Focus!

Have you ever walked on water?  

No?

Neither have I,

but

there was one man who walked on water

as easily as we walk across the yard.

This morning I want to focus on a second man

who walked on water as well.

He was just like me- fearful, doubting, uncertain,

but one day he asked a bold question

and here it is,

"Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.  When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.  But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”  “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”"

His name was Peter and he walked on water!  

Other than Jesus he was the only man to ever do this miraculous thing.  In the middle of the story I see Peter getting distracted and when that happened he took his eyes off of Jesus and fear came.

Our lives today are miracles of walking on water and we aren't even aware of it.  We trust God, who we have never seen, and his Son, who we have never seen either, for an eternity with him in a place he is preparing, again...no one has seen that either!  

Faith is trusting the faithful word of another for something we don't see or experience now, but believe we will one day simply because that person said it was true.

Peter got distracted and began to sink, he "saw the wind" and became afraid.  Why was he afraid of the wind? He was already doing something impossible. What could the wind do to him? 

But he lost focus...

...he took his eyes off of Jesus...

and when we do that fear comes.

At the end of the story Jesus asked Peter (and us) this amazing question- "Why did you doubt?"

It seems an obvious question but I know I would have answered, "Are you kidding me Lord?  Don't you know what we were doing is impossible??"

And that's the very point of faith...it's a focused trust in an invisible God for miraculous things we have yet to see...and we are staking our eternity on his words.

The only way to do this is to keep our focus on him.  When we get distracted from our focus on Christ fear comes, doubts arise, temptations increase...

...and we begin to sink.

Don't you know that what we are doing is impossible? This living by faith thing makes no sense at all....except for the fact that it's all true.

Jesus really is God making it possible for us to do the impossible and walk by faith, hand in hand, with an amazing, loving God.