LayGuy

Tonight we had Frontline at Church – our Men’s Group meeting.  We’re currently going through the Warrior series by Lifechurch.tv.

One of the discussions centred around the story of Peter walking on water as described in Mat 14:28-31:

“And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

During our conversation, it dawned on me how this story is a great metaphor for the Christian walk.

When Peter says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water,” Peter is responding to the working of Christ.  A miracle.  When God starts to draw you in to Him, this is a miracle.  And we respond to this by following Him – stepping outside of our comfort zone and into a new faith.  We don’t have all the answers and this can be visually depicted as walking out on a raging and stormy sea.

“So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.”  Do you remember when you first came to Christ?  How you were ready to conquer the world for Him.  This is represented by the “ludicrous” actions of Peter as he stepped out of the boat.

I remember quite well as the wife of the Pastor of the Church I was baptised in downplayed the zeal of the group of people I was baptised with.  “They’re all just new Christians – reality will soon set in!”

She said this in such a negative undertone that I remember it to this day – 12 years later.  The voice of a sinking person.  I say “sinking” deliberately because of what happens next with Peter.

“But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink….”  This is what happens when we take our eyes of Jesus.  Instead of his eyes on Jesus, Peter looks around and takes stock of the reality he is in, freaks out and then starts to sink.

How true this is for all of us?  After getting over the euphoria of the birth of our salvation and being ready to conquer the world, “reality” sets in as we pay attention to the storms in our life.

Our work, marriages, responsibilities, failures and sin all take our gaze away from the One we initially fixed our eyes on.  And the result is that we begin to sink.  We experience defeat. And we start freakin out as to where we are and how we got there.

And at this point, the story turns.  I strongly believe that God lets us carry on in our failures with the sole purpose of teaching us to rely on Him.  Peter cries out, “Lord, save me.”

When you get to that point in your life where God strips away from you the realisation that you can never walk on water on your own, the most sane reaction is to call on the One who inspired you to take on this journey in the first place.  Your Saviour.

And this is what I love – Jesus’ response. “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him.” Notice the lack of hesitation on the part of Jesus?  He immediately saves Peter from sinking.

This is the nature of our King – ever faithful & always able.  He knew full well the predicament facing Peter – just as He knows the predicament facing our own lives.  He knows   that He needs to step in.  We just need to call out to Him.

In typical Jesus style, He uses this whole example to teach a valuable life lesson.  You see, Jesus doesn’t seem to believe in redundancy.  He will always use any life experience to stretch and grow us.  It seems that the sanctification of our souls is a high and mighty priority in the mind of Christ.

“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  These were His words to Peter as He snagged him from sinking.  Though 2000 years have passed, I bet Jesus is still saying these words to you and I.

If only my soul and spirit could grasp this, I too can walk on water.  However in my case case, the water represents sanctification.

As I sink on a daily basis, my hope is that I whole heartedly call out to Him…

“Lord, save me.”