Wednesday 2nd December 2020 Devotion
Scriptures:- Matthew 14:29
Topic:- You Can Walk On Water Too [2]
Text:- Matthew 14:29
Now, go back there and imagine Jesus standing before you — walking to you on the waves, while the storm continues to rage, waving to you to get out of the boat.
What do you do? Is this just too incredulous or unbelievable to begin to accept?
Are your eyes playing tricks on you? Are you suddenly suffering from some psychological breakdown?
Can you let yourself believe that it is real? And yet, it is.
Your Messiah is calling you to leave safety and join Him in the chaos on the waves. He really thinks that you can walk on the water too.
What are you going to do? You really just have two choices here. Belief or doubt, trust or fear.
Fear has dominated much of my life. More times than I care to admit, I’ve allowed fear to establish a stronghold in nearly every aspect of my life.
From my marriage and motherhood to my career and many things in between, I have been afraid to fail, afraid to disappoint and, at times, afraid to even move.
That kind of fear is paralyzing and makes belief of any kind seem all but unreachable. I don’t trust what I fear. I flee what I fear.
God knows this instinct inside of me. Fight or flight wasn’t something created by scientists.
It wasn’t an invention of modern humanity. Fight or flight was woven into our being along with the capacity to love or hate, to care or turn away, to believe or doubt. We were created with free will.
How many times are the words, “do not be afraid” uttered in Scripture? Believe it or not, variations of that phrase appear 365 times in the Bible, one for each day of the year.
It’s no coincidence. God knows your fear and my fear just as He knew how terrified Mary would be.
He anticipated Joseph would be skeptical, at best, possibly livid, and undoubtedly afraid.
Jesus perceived His disciples’ fear in that boat upon that stormy sea. He could hear Peter’s pounding heart.
He read the thoughts that must have been racing through Matthew’s or Mark’s mind.
He understood that despite witnessing one of the greatest miracles in the history of the world… the feeding of five thousand people… they were going to doubt and let their fear cloud their faith.
Even after all they’d seen, belief wasn’t going to come easily or naturally to them.
Similarly in our lives, God knows that despite the many blessings, the many giftings He bestows upon us, we’re always going to find something to be afraid of or some excuse to quiet the voice He’s placed within us.
We can easily fill our minds with doubts that will make us question, muffle, and in some cases, abandon the message He wants us to share.
There will always be a reason to run and a shadow in which to hide.
It’s impossible, however, to outrun His watchful eye and gentle hand. As fast as we try to run to a safe place, God’s not a God who gives up easily. He is jealous for us.
He is jealous for YOU. And He yearns to hear that beautiful voice of yours resound through the song of your life.
No one else in all of history sounds like you. No one else can satisfy the role you’re meant to play.
Despite knowing every single thing we’ve ever done or ever will do, every single thought we have thought or will think, He passionately pursues us.
Even when there is an ocean between your heart and His, He will tame every tempest, wave, and current to hold your heart close to His.
He sustains us in the storm; and in our darkest, most pitiful or agonizing moments, His grace is enough.
His grace is perfected in us when we are at our weakest. Our shortcomings attract His perfection.
Even our fallacies shine a spotlight on His strength, love, and perfect salvation.
I have to think that Peter knew all of this. Standing by Jesus’ side for years, he heard Him preach countless times.
He had heart-to-heart talks by the fire with the man who broke his fishnets with His abundant provision.
Peter was as close to Jesus Christ as any human being in history.
Perhaps all of those things came together in that one perfect moment of faith when Peter defied the wind and waves and threw his leg over the boat.
In spite of his friends’ warnings and his own knowledge of the ocean and sailing, which probably told him it wasn’t smart to hop out onto the water.
At that moment, none of that stood against his God. Nothing could pluck him from the loving, firm, eternal embrace of his Savior.
So he walked on the water too. “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. See Matthew 14:28-29.
Prayer Point:- Oh Lord God, help me to walk over the sea in my life by fire, in the name of Jesus Christ.
Happy Mid-Week!
