Today's Reading:
Matthew 13-14
As people of faith, we can learn a valuable lesson from the account of Jesus walking on water (Matt. 14:22-34). We read of numerous accounts when Jesus performed miracles in the gospels, but this one is different. This time Jesus invited Peter to experience the miracle with Him. Jesus said to Peter, "Come" (14:29), and Peter stepped out of the boat and began to walk on the water. Peter was able to walk on the water because Jesus invited him to, and because he kept his focus on Jesus. As soon as Peter took his focus off Jesus, he began to sink. Recently I had been discouraged in my ability to serve God in the capacity to which He had called me to. As I focused on the discouragement, I began to sink. You see, I wasn't looking at Jesus in the midst of my discouragement, but rather on the discouragement itself. What's encouraging about this lesson is that Jesus just didn't call Peter to come, he calls all of us to come. Come when we are weary and need strength (Matt. 11:28), come when are lonely, come when we feel we cannot go one more week as a small group leader, come when the problems in other people's lives are more than we can bear. Come. Stay. Swim. I believe Jesus wants us all to experience a miracle in this life with Him, but we won't experience the fullest impact from it unless our sights are fixed on Him. What are you looking at today? Problems, cares of the world, other people, your job? Why not come and sit with Jesus for a while? He might even take you for a swim.
PrayerPoint:
Please pray for Pastor Mark as he speaks at Founder's Week this evening.
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When I read this passage, I always think, ‘Why was Peter the only one willing to get out of the boat?’ I’m sure the others in the boat thought Peter was being foolish. Yet, right before their eyes they see Peter walking on water towards Jesus. Did their fear begin before the wind came or had they had a bad experience prior and didn’t want to try it again? How often do we look at what God asks of us and we think that is too difficult, what is God thinking, it is much safer in the boat? How often do our hearts condemn us? In 1 John 3:18-24: “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”
(The theme for George and me must be rest because that is what God has been speaking to me about for a few weeks. Yet, I think it is for you all as well.) Sometimes we can get exhausted loving others. As small group leaders, shepherding can be tiring. So, we keep plunging ahead because we think I must keep going there is so much work to do or I feel guilty if I slow down, what will God think of me, what will others think of me. Then the tiredness increases. I had grown so tired of late. There had been a lot in my schedule. I knew that God had told me to rest and I keep asking Him ‘When?’. Finally I began to write my schedule down for 2 weeks and said okay God here it is – find time for me to rest. You know I had a few cancellations take place. There was a video on rest that I had found and thought ‘when am I going to have time to watch this?’ so God made time for me to watch it. It was great to listen to it was all about the Matthew 11 passage and resting in Him. I began to relax, yet, I knew I had Women with a Purpose presentation to work on and it was on loving God. So, I needed to at least start looking at again. I found myself in 1 John (it is all about loving others) and then the verses above where there for me and I couldn’t ignore them. My eyes went to the rest in his presence, then my mind began to listen, for God had a good word to say to me. What would have missed had I not listened to him.
You know we are so afraid that we aren’t doing a good job that God is going to find something wrong with what we are doing. Yet, he desires to care for us, to nurture us, and to help us rest. I encourage you to rest in Him, let Him care for you, tend to your needs, and let Him tell you that He is pleased with you. It is okay to get out of the boat and trust in God to see what He has for you. Do not let fear keep you in the boat and miss the blessings of loving others. However, do not stay in the boat and miss spending time with God and resting in Him.
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