Matt 14:23
Peter said to Jesus: Bid me come to thee on the water. When he began to sink he cried Lord help me!
Those in the Bible who pressed forward.
That is an expression of true faith: going forward regardless of the outcome.
If something is out of our control it isn’t out of God’s control. Faith is comfortable being out of control, it can rest in that.
Human nature gets anxious when it’s not in control. It will come up with a dialogue, lies, a fabricated truth, another flavour to be palatable to be believed, because of wanting to control the outcome. Faith isn’t looking for that control.
Jesus didn’t say to Peter you have no faith. He had faith, he walked on the water. When we step out of our comfort zone, the waves are real, stark. To start with Peter wasn’t mindful of the waves, only mindful of Jesus. Then he became mindful of the waves and things changed.
Waves can be many things in our experience.
What people say about us can be like a huge wave. Boisterous times. What do people say about me, about us, about our ministry?
Jesus asked what do people say about me? Jesus didn’t have those cares as he knew the truth. It didn’t affect Jesus.
Waves of controversy that aren’t applicable to our situation can sink us. Peter was out there because Jesus called him.
Peter getting out of the ship is like Jesus calling the ministry, to leave their security. No insulation against the realities of life, except the faith to obey.
We don’t do this because we enjoy it, or can’t do anything else. I’m here because God called me.
Rock climber scaling a rock, with a coil of rope, screwing in anchor points as they climb, because they’ll slip at some stage, and fall to the last anchor, which might give and then they’ll fall to the next.
I’ve fallen before and my anchor point has held me.
I was in a home once with a group of people. Then they started talking about someone and I felt very uncomfortable, then angry. I felt I had to excuse myself. I went to my room and prayed for the peace I needed. A scripture came to mind which has become an anchor point for me.
Isaiah 40:31 “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
The power of the eagle is to rise above the situation. I returned to the group, who were still talking about the same topic. But God had given me His peace in a situation where I had none.
We’ve committed to a relationship with God. Keep it sacred, like a sacred marriage, which takes sacrifice to keep it healthy. If we don’t sacrifice we’ll lose our power.
Peter knew he just must obey Jesus.
John 21. 18-
Peter was going to live to an old age and learn to graciously accept what others provided for him and where they would lead him, and in this he was going to glorify God, with someone else in control and not him.
When a small business is growing a time comes to either sell up or reinvest for growth. What did Jesus do? Curse Judas and prevent anything further happening? Jesus prayed more earnestly. Reinvesting. Resigning to the thought of controlling his outcome. Submitting to whatever was in God’s control.
God wants to express himself in our submitted lives. How sacred am I keeping my relationship with God? Reading, praying. Everything else revolved around our relationship with God.
Jacob in Gen 32. Blessed by God. Then hears Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men. Jacob is distressed. (This is a spiritual story. I’m not being critical of Jacob) .
V9 he puts the responsibility on God. I am where you want me to be. Deliver me from Esau, because I fear him. Jacob struggled with the fear of Esau, not with Esau. The fear is the giant.
Fear knocked at the door, faith answered, and no one was there.
If darkness knocks at the door and light answers, no one is there. Where light is weak, darkness takes up the slack.
Jacob didn’t let go of the angel till he had peace. The blessing of peace.
Ch32v28. The meaning of the name Israel: Struggling with God and man. Power with men, not power over men.
Jacob bowed 7 x meeting Esau, that’s power with men. It’s not in the DNA of man to humble himself before someone else.
7 x, means completely. He didn’t care about the outcome, he had complete peace whatever the outcome was going to be.
Joseph, sold at 17, ruler of Egypt at 30.
22 years later his brothers came to buy corn. He wanted to hear the story from them. He knew his own story.
Gen 42.
They said, We be true men. A bold statement!
One is not.
Gen 44.
Judah stepping forward, with no control of the outcome, with a beautiful spirit. 22 years before he had sold his brother with evil in his heart, but now what a change. Joseph was looking at him seeing him giving his life for another, so Benjamin could go free.
That truth set them all free.
Gen 44. 20 –
His brother is dead. First they said, he is not, now they say, he is dead. But he wasn’t dead. They had come to believe their own lie.
Saul lost the goodwill of serving Israel and got consumed with his own little world. Saul sold out to misconception. He thought, I’ve obeyed the lord, and Samuel said, no you haven’t!
God knows the truth. He longs for us to acknowledge the truth before him, otherwise repentance will not be on the table.
Have we become the Judah in our experience? He didn’t know the man in front of him had the power to set him free, but he was resigned, empty.
Imagine them all free, facing their father.
43.14 –
Jacob would feel, I’m letting everything go when letting my boy go.
The only way we’ll live is by letting our Benjamin go.
Joseph came back into his life as well! A picture of the resurrection! When we are completely open before him.
Esther, to Mordecai,
Ch 4.13
All the Jews would be killed. Who knows if you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. The ball is on your court . What are you going to do? Fast, pray, work for a solution.
She said, I’ll go, if I perish I perish. Everything was on the line. She wasn’t trying to control the outcome. She surrendered and let God open up the way.
Jesus turning water into wine. The servants obeyed and went. In the process of them obeying a whole season of growth, and substance was injected into that wine. Who got the glory? His disciples believed on Him.
We must keep our relationship sacred by having a covenant with our eyes and our tongue.
Truth Archive 