I shared the following with a Bible study group I was asked to come and share with a couple of weeks ago. I pray it will be a blessing to you.
Matthew 14:22-33 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
Matthew 14:22-33 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
Now
in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the
sea.
And
when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled,
saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
But immediately Jesus spoke
to them, saying,
“Be
of good
cheer!
It is
I; do not be afraid.”
And
Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to
come to You on the water.”
So He said,
“Come.”
And
when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to
go to Jesus.
But
when he saw that the wind
was
boisterous,
he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord,
save me!”
And
immediately Jesus stretched out
His
hand
and caught him, and said to him, “O
you of
little
faith, why did you doubt?”
And
when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
Then those who were in the
boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You
are the Son of God.”
To be
effective in our spiritual lives, we will sometimes have to take a
risk (or what appears to be a risk). The turtle wouldn't get
anywhere if he didn't
stick his neck out. You won't do anything in life nor for God
without risk. Don't be scared to take a risk. Remember, it's not really a risk when you are serving Jesus!
In our text, Peter wasn't testing
Jesus, something we are told not to do (Matthew 4:7). Instead, he
was the only one in
the boat to react in faith. His impulsive request led him to
experience a rather unusual demonstration of God's power. We sometimes are critical of Peter for taking his eyes off of Jesus and sinking. But keep in mind Peter was the only one of the disciples to take this step of faith and walk on the water, He did something and experienced something none of the others did. He took a risk.
When Peter was in the boat
and asked Jesus to help him step out, he was a lot safer on the water
than in the boat. When he was in the boat he was depending on
something man made, but
when he was in the water he was depending on the One who made
man. It's time we step out of our comfort zones and take a leap of faith.
Peter started to sink when
he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the high waves around him.
His faith wavered when he realized what he was doing. But he knew who to turn to - Jesus! Peter cried out to Jesus and He came through. Sound familiar?
We may not walk on water,
but we do walk through tough situations. If we focus on the waves of
difficult circumstances around us without looking to Jesus for help,
we, too, may despair and sink. To maintain your faith when
situations are difficult, keep your eyes on Jesus and His
power rather than on your inadequacies.
When Peter stepped out of
the boat, he stepped out of his “comfort zone”. When we step out
of our “comfort zone”, that is when God
is able to do something. We are no longer depending on us,
but rather on Him.
Anything that is accomplished is accomplished by faith anyway, so let's step out of our comfort zone and see what God will do.
How many of you can identify with Peter? He was always outspoken and doing things he shouldn't. But he also was someone who was willing to take risks, sometimes crazy risks. Where do you feel God is leading you to get out of the boat now?
Until next time...enjoy the journey!
Ray
Thanks for taking your time to read and share this blog. If you know of someone who would be encouraged by this blog, please feel free to forward a link or use the icons below to repost this blog.
Thanks for taking your time to read and share this blog. If you know of someone who would be encouraged by this blog, please feel free to forward a link or use the icons below to repost this blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment