Churning Waves
Have you ever thought, “ I just need something awesome to happen or I need an experience with God”, the need for something to break the barrage of storms and challenges that you face in life?
Sure, we all do. It’s easy to think that an “experience” will be the thing to bring change. That some how, having an experience will cause the clouds to break to reveal blue skies so that song birds will start singing again in your life. Sounds good right.
The problem is that experiences, although supernatural and amazing, can end up just being powerful memories unless we recognize that we play a part in having the change in our lives.
In Matt 14, Peter, has a supernatural, amazing experience with Jesus. His experience of walking on water with the Lord is one that I am sure he never forgot. Jesus is always there in the storm ready when we call upon him. “ Come to me” he told Peter.
24-26 Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. "A ghost!" they said, crying out in terror.
27 But Jesus was quick to comfort them. "Courage, it's me. Don't be afraid."
28 Peter, suddenly bold, said, "Master, if it's really you, call me to come to you on the water."
29-30 He said, "Come ahead."
Yet, in the midst of one of the most awesome experiences he had ever had with the Lord, there were still churning waves under his feet. Just being out on the water with the Lord didn’t cause the storm to stop. Many times we are wanting an experience from Jesus with the thought that it will cause the storm we are in to stop raging.
Peter found out that what he paid attention to was the determining factor in the success of the experience.
Verse 30, Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, "Master, save me!"
Many times we call out to the Lord in the middle of a storm, wanting to have an experience to make it all better. Jesus is there to meet our needs; we sense his presence and hear his voice. We feel awesome until we start looking at the churning waves beneath our feet again.
The storm may not calm immediately. Our part is to keep our focus on the Lord. The experience was awesome but in order to continue to walk in that power Peter had to stay focused on Jesus. As he started to be consumed with “the problem” again, he called out to Jesus and of course Jesus didn’t hesitate to help. Yet, the Lord did say to Peter “…what got into you?”
31 Jesus didn't hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, "Faint-heart, what got into you?"
My encouragement today is this, storms happen. In fact there may be waves churning under our feet at any given point in our lives. What we do with our eyes and our thoughts makes a huge difference in how we come through. I want to come through the storms of life with my eyes fixed on the Lord, not constantly hearing him say “ I gottcha…your’re not going to drown…what got into you?” He basically told Peter that he could have walked with him all the way through it….on the water. Amazing! So can we! So don’t be moves by those churning waves, keep your eyes locked on the Lord until the storm calms or you are standing on solid ground. Amen!
Say this: Today, I choose to keep my eyes focused on the Lord. I know that with Jesus I can do all things. I will make it through this storm! I speak peace to my soul and cast all my cares over on Him because he cares for me. He will not allow me to sink or be overtaken. Thank you Lord for your abounding love towards me. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment