Peter Walks On Water
Matthew 14:27-29But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
And he said, Come.
And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
An impossible act that goes against the laws of gravity and surface tension of water etc...
And yet the Word of God which is truth tells us that it actually happened for Peter.
Can you imagine how Peter felt at that moment?
He, being a fisherman for a living, knew quite well that such things are beyond reason and can't happen. And yet here he was doing it!
He went against all common sense that every fisherman knew.
When in a storm you grab the bottom boards of the boat for dear life.
Every fisherman has had a loved one or a friend thrown overboard during storms, never to be seen again. The last thing you would want to do is loosen your grip on the boat and the security of the bulkhead.
Peter just has what it takes to go against everything he knows about storms and steps out of the boat.
Apparently the water supports him above the surface. Another thing that is significant is that every fisherman in Peter's realm knows that to see a 'ghost' is an evil omen of sorts, not good.
This is why we hear Peter say, "Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water."
Peter is demonstrating courage and bold faith in the middle of the most feared aspect of being a fisherman. The storm.
So here he is actually walking on water, as if in a dream, only it is very real.
He feels the water in the wind spraying his face , he is aware of the motion of the water rising and dropping as he goes up and down with it's surface.
He starts to verify mentally what is happening, looking closely at the waves.
The waves that are all to real for his taste. Especially since he has a grip on nothing but his own faith.
We read:
30But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
You see, when we get our focus off of the Lord Jesus Christ and focus on the hindrances around us we start to fail.
Peter saw the force of the wind swept waves in this particular storm.
He had seen many a storm in his time, only this time it was different. He was in it literally.
So he starts to take notice of the storm, focusing upon it instead of the Savior.
The result is that the miracle begins to diminish and cold hard reality of this physical world creeps in. He knows what is happening and quickly throws up his hand towards the Lord, saying, "Lord , save me."
Short and concise, straight to the point kind of prayer.
Jesus responds, throwing out his strong carpenter's hand in Peter's direction and gets Peter in HIS grasp.
As He does so He puts the lesson in proper perspective, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Peter, you don't have much faith, why were you doubtful?
"I don't get it." I am here with you, in this storm along with you. You know it is me. Your doing something impossible, walking on water in my presence, and yet you won't believe it.
Jesus asked him, "Why did you doubt." As if it was Peter's human responsibility to operate his faith. As if somehow Peter had something to do with all of this.
I wonder how many of you out there are sitting back waiting for the Lord to do everything for you?
Being passive.
Not stepping out of your boat in the midst of your own storms to go to Jesus over all that is trying to hinder you.
Notice that when Peter's lesson was over, when he and Jesus were in the boat, the wind ceased.
Lesson over.
What did we learn?
How were we supposed to react to the storm in Jesus presence, even though we were not quite sure that it was Him coming towards us in the midst of the storm.
"Lord, if it is you, bid me to do the impossible as I journey towards you."
It is not about the miracle of accomplishing the impossible against the natural laws of physics.
No.
It is about acknowledging that something marvelous is taking place and heading for the Lord with full focus of our attention on Him.
Not on the miracle, not on the hindrances we are facing, but on Christ.
At Shekinah Fellowship we would sing:
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace."
Learn from Peter.
Pay attention to what Jesus says to him.
Your faith is very much a part of the equation.
God does not want robotic puppets that He manipulates on strings.
He wants 'co~workers' in Christ Jesus. (1 Corinthians 3:9)
Sure, you can just sit there waiting for that which is never going to happen.
Or you can get out of your boat in the presence of your storms and head towards Jesus over the hindrances in your life.
Lonnie Frisbee told me, "David, the man of God dares to be wrong.
The man of God is not afraid to climb out on a limb, trusting God to not cut it off behind him."
The fruit from Lonnie's ministry is abundant, enabling us to look back and see what his concept produced in his own ministering.
He ventured out all over the world inspite of his personal hindrances.
He expected from God and received it.
Some of us are like an upside down cup.
When the Holy Spirit moves, his water just goes over us and we get nothing from it that we can walk away with. We can contain none of it.
Others are like a cup on it's side. when the Holy Spirit moves, His water goes in us and right back out. We get nothing and contain nothing.
Others of us are like an upright cup.
When the Holy Spirit moves, His water fills us to overflowing.
We leave brimming with fullness to share with others.
John 7:38He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Believe.
Experience the fruit of it...Leave the safety of your boat, let go of the bulkhead and venture out inspite of the hindrances.
Head for Jesus, focus on Jesus and everything else will fall into place.
Anyone who has ever been present during a Kathryn Kuhlman healing service would have noticed how she focused completely upon Jesus and directed everyone's attention to Jesus.
This is key and always has been.
We see a type of this in the wilderness when Moses was told to make a brass serpent and lift it high so that all the people who had been bit by the snakes would be healed if they gazed upon the brass serpent.
We give Him all our praise.
We worship Him alone, for He is worthy of our praise.
O how we worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Ruler over all with a rod of iron.
The soon coming King.
The Prince of peace.
The righteous judge, the fulfillment of the Law.
Our Kinsman Redeemer.
Our wonderful advocate.
Our helper in times of trouble.
Our rock of our salvation.
Our hiding place in the midst of the storm.
We worship You alone Almighty God!
For there is none other.
Blessed be Your name above every name that is named.
JESUS
David Sloane
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