Storm Walker

Church Family,

Last night we discussed a little bit of the life of the Apostle Peter, and the historic moment when he defied gravitational laws and walked on water.  We had a great move of God during the song service last night, and then again in the altar service. 

We talked about how we expect God to show up at church, at devotions, when we meditate on Him, and so forth.  But we don't often think of Him showing up in tragedies such as: foreclosures, deaths, bankruptcy, divorces, and so on.  However, these are the places where He shows up most often, and it is here that He does His greatest work. 

In Matthew 14 we find that Jesus had just fed the 5000 people and sent the multitude away.  He instructed His disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side while He retired to the mountain to pray.  He was sending them right into the storm, and He knew it; they didn't. 

It was supposed to be a one hour trip across the Sea of Galilee, but it turned into nine grueling hours of agony and wondering if this is where it would all end.  Unexpectedly at 4a.m. Jesus shows up by walking on the water.  The disciples thought He was a ghost, or some kind of phantom.  He spoke to them and said, "It is I.  Don't be afraid." Peter said, "Lord, if its you, allow me to come to you on the water".  Jesus responded, "Come".  So he did, and for the next few seconds Peter made history by doing what no one else had ever done besides Jesus.  He walked on the water.

The lesson learned here is that you must keep your eyes on Jesus, even in the storm.  Max Lucado tells the story of him flying in an Airforce jet with a veteran pilot who had 6000 flying hours under his belt.  Max explained how scared he was as the plane twisted and turned through the skies at unbelievable speeds.  He said the only thing he was able to do was to look at the pilot.  As long as the pilot didn't look scared and afraid, he could assume everything was gonna be alright.

As long as Peter kept looking at Jesus he was alright.  It's only when he began to look at other things: the storm, the winds, the waves, etc. that he began to sink.  We have to keep looking to Jesus. 

We have an O.T. example given to us in the Bible.  When the fiery serpents were sent into the camp of the Israelites, Moses was instructed to build a brazen serpent and place it upon a pole and put it at the highest point in the camp.  When anyone was bitten all they had to do was "look" upon the serpent that had been raised up in the wilderness, and they would live.  Likewise, if we will keep our eyes upon Jesus who was raised up on Calvary, we too will live.

Don't look at the storm water, rather, look at the Storm Walker!

Michael D. Sanes
Pastor, THWC