Remain Above Water

Matthew 14:29-30 “He (Jesus) said, “Come.” and climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!” ~CSB

In life we always feel comfortable when we can control situations in our lives. We work at our jobs to receive a paycheck. We use that paycheck to pay bills and buy food for our household. That is a comfort zone that we love to remain in because we can control everything in that situation. But what if that control was threatened?  For example, what if our job was that kind of job where we got paid, only if we showed up to work? We get sick. Because of this sickness, (which we cannot control), we miss days and cannot work. For these days we missed work, we do not get paid. When we do not get paid, we cannot pay our bills or buy food. This is when we begin to panic. This is when life takes us out of our ‘comfort zones’. 

When we lived in the world, working under our own power, we had no way out of that panic. But in being Christians we now have to learn to live in peace, God's peace, even if that life is away from our comfort zones. We must do this because these are the times God works His miracles. The practice for Christians  is that we must never forget Who God is and what He is capable of doing.

Think about this, we have faith while we are in church and during our spiritual, biblical meditations. But when circumstances in life come around, we lose focus on God and His Son, and allow our problems, situations and struggles to become bigger than God. Peter was in his ‘church’ frame of mind when he stepped off the boat and began to walk on water. He was actually doing what Jesus told him to do. But when he saw the sight of the storm, his situation told him he could not walk on water, even when Jesus told him he could. What are we allowing the world to tell us what we cannot do, when God is already telling us we can? 

Like Peter we take our eyes off Christ and focus on our circumstances. If God is bigger than our struggles and trials, we should always stay focused on Him. We should have the same strong faith in God while enduring our trials and sufferings as we have when we sing praises to Him in church. We should have the same focus on God when situations are out of our control as we have when we submit to God in our meditations. Our faith is always walking hand in hand with God knowing that He will not let us sink in the chaotic waters around us. As long as we are with Christ, we will not drown.

May God continue to bless and keep you protected, healed and directed in Jesus’ name.

Amen

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