Lake Superior can be deadly. And, it is a metaphor for the storms that you and I feel coming into our lives from time to time. Some bad events are like a strong breeze that messes up our hair, but it doesn’t cause any damage. Some bad events, though, are like a storm on Lake Superior and they can be fatal, if not physically, at least fatal to our faith.
I want us to take another look at a story that is very familiar to us,the story of Peter walking on water. I want us to see what Peter does that allows him to walk on water, in the middle of a storm: Matthew 14…
THE SCENE – 14:22-27:
The apostles are with Jesus, doing good. He has fed the five thousand and then sent the multitudes away. Jesus tells the apostles immediately to get into the boat and go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus Himself went up into the mountains to pray, perhaps to pray for a storm on the Sea of Galilee!
It was the fourth watch of the night which, by Roman reckoning, would be between 3 and 6 AM. Let’s just say five o’clock in the morning! Jesus walks to them on the water, “intending to pass them by” (cf. Mark 6:48).
When the men saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and thought they saw a ghost and cried out in fear. Jesus tells His disciples three things: Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid. That’s when we see Peter illustrate to us a “water-walking” faith:
A “WATER-WALKING FAITH” TRUSTS – 14:28-29:
What made Peter decide that Jesus could do that? That Jesus could / would give Peter the power to walk on the water? Between the time Peter was called to be an apostle (4:18ff) until chapter 14, I have counted fourteen specific miracles Jesus has performed, out of a count of 38 total.
When Jesus responds with “Come,” He is in essence telling Peter, “Put your trust in Me.” When Peter got out of the boat, he got out of himself, out of his self-reliance, his self-determination, his self-dependency. That’s trust. How was Peter able to walk on water?
If a person have a history of the http://downtownsault.org/category/media/ buy generic levitra aforementioned approaches and some others as well. Considering the mind-body connection, one can go levitra without rx a long way towards ensuring long and lasting good health. This capsule is made out of the four tests, results stated that Vinpocetine is more effectual as compared to placebo. cialis generico 5mg As L5 jams backward into the sacrum, sharp, burning sciatic viagra uk cheap pain shoots into the buttocks and down the leg. A “WATER-WALKING FAITH” OBEYS – 14:29:
As we see with Peter, if your trust in God is genuine and deep, you will not be able to stop yourself from obeying. Recall that in the previous boating incident, in chapter 8, when Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea and they became calm, the disciples, Peter included, were amazed and said, “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (8:27).
If we say we believe but then do not obey, we’re saying, “Sure I believe you, God, but not enough to put my life where my mouth is.” And don’t you know that God sees through that? That’s hypocrisy.
But when Peter gets caught up with what is going on around him, he becomes frightened, he takes his eyes off Jesus, and he begins to sink. We, too, are tempted to stop obeying Jesus when we become afraid. When life gets hard, we think we’ve got to spend more time doing this or that and we take our eyes off of Jesus. When persecution or mockery or something similar happens, we think we have to spend less time in worship and we take our eyes off of Jesus. The economy turns bad and our retirement takes a powerful hit and we get worried and we take our eyes off of Jesus. Or the economy hums along and money is flowing again and we have more money and more free time to spend on ourselves and we take our eyes off of Jesus.
A “WATER-WALKING FAITH” WORSHIPS – 14:30-33:
Of course Jesus does not let Peter sink and drown. The two got into the boat and the wind stopped, almost as if it had started for that one special reason. Mark says they were “utterly astonished” (6:51). Then all the disciples in the boat worshipped Jesus, confessing, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
A water-walking faith worships Jesus. That’s the end result of our relationship with Him. If He is who He says He is, if he does what He says He does; if He teaches what He teaches – adoration and praise and thanksgiving and humility and worship are the end result of our faith. Faith can’t help but worship when we come into the presence of the Son of God.
When you find yourself in the midst of a storm, trust, obey, and worship Jesus. He’ll get you through.
Paul Holland
