Matthew 14:29-31 New King James Version (NKJV)
So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw [a]that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
God will reveal His plan for your life to you in parts. Most of the time the places He instructs you to go are usually in unchartered territory. It takes faith to go where you have never been before based solely on the voice of God’s direction. There is much at risk and it usually is your pride, God stretches our faith and trust in Him. The journey starts out strong and then one challenge after another begins to test our faith to its limits. God seems silent and you feel like a fool. You look back and see that the boat you stepped out of to walk on this water is out of sight. It is too late to turn back now, you are tired and you feel yourself starting to sink. The sinking is part of the journey it is actually where the stretching takes place. Jesus challenged Peter's faith level by asking him why he doubted Him. That question begins to stir up all kinds of different moments in Peter's mind where He remembers Jesus as a miracle worker. In fact, walking on water is a miracle! Isn't it? Why then was Peter scared? What made him sink?
I will dare to say - focusing on his surroundings and questioning the power of God. Does God understand when we reach that place where we start to wonder if we made the right choice? Should we have stayed in the boat? Are we crazy for thinking we could actually do this? The more and more we question the dimmer the image of Jesus in our sight gets. Faith lifts us above what is possible and steps us into the realm of the unseen, where we pursue the things hoped for. We cannot navigate that realm alone we need the direction of the Lord Jesus to walk us through. On the other side of things hoped for, is the evidence of things not seen. Manifestation is on the other side of our faith walk, yet our focus must always be on Jesus. If He is not our focal point we start to see things like those who stayed in the boat. You see, sinking is not failure it is the place where God stretches our faith. Jesus is always there to give us a hand and pull us up and bring our focus back to Him. Jesus was really asking Peter "Peter after all you have witnessed, don't you know who I am? " If you follow his story line Jesus revealed a great deal of himself to Peter. The Holy Spirit revealed to him the truth that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus took him and two others up on the mountain and revealed His divinity in the transfiguration. He was one of the first to receive the grace and forgiveness through the blood of Jesus after he denied Jesus 3 times, I could go on. I suspect all this trust in Peter was birthed out of Peter's faith. His willingness to get out of the boat demonstrated a trust in God that is required for deeper revelation of His character.
Numbers 11:23 New King James Version (NKJV)
23 And the Lord said to Moses, “Has the Lord’s arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.”
Are you sinking today? Do you need a hand? Reach up- Jesus is right there to pull you up and elevate your faith. We must not doubt God's ability to do what He said. His word does not return to Him void, but it accomplishes what it was sent out to do. He puts his word above His name. He watches over His word. Be mindful that when we are most weary in the race is when the end is the closest to us. Do not be discouraged by what you cannot see, trust in the Lord Jesus keep walking on the water. Let Him stretch your faith beyond your current ability and across the finish line of your test.
Come on! That's it! Up you go!
**As I finished this blog I saw a vision of me as a runner on the side of the road too tired to continue and Jesus coming with a cup of water and helping me to my feet. I was able to run on and He ran ahead of me running backwards saying " Come on, you can do it, you're amost there, I got you, keep running, look at Me" **
I don't know who that is for beside me, but it if it was for you leave a comment below and I will keep you in my prayers!