Saturday, October 14, 2006

Held in His hands



I love the story in Matthew 14 when Peter walked on the water. It's one of my favorite pictures of God's love and care for us. Here is the story-

"And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

What a great picture for us- Peter's desire to do the impossible was honored by the Lord, and he did, in fact, walk on water. But faith turned to fear as he looked at the wind (who can see wind anyway?) and he began to sink. Most of us would have let him get wet, serves him right for not believing! But the Lord lovingly reached out to Peter, took his hand, and kept him from sinking. What a tender love, what a gracious hand. I can see the smile on Jesus face as he says, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" To help, here's how it would be written today, "Peter, didn't you know that walking on water is impossible? Why were you worried about the wind? I was holding you up."

And He is holding us up. Every moment of the day the Lord is the loving hand held out to those of us walking on water. He's our "inner tube" that keeps us from sinking. You don't really need to know how to swim or walk on water, all you have to do is trust Him. He will keep you from sinking. He will hold you up. Don't worry about the wind....it's nothing at all.

4 comments:

Kathy said...

Beautiful reminder, Mike. Look forward to seeing you in church tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

your blog really helps me to keep a positive outlook when i feel like beating myself up!. thanks for all your encouraging words.

Anonymous said...

Gotta wonder what made him doubt after already walking on water??? Maybe just realizing what he was doing - Or that he felt unworthy.. I feel that a lot and know whose work this feeling belongs too. In my complete unworthiness of my calling I try to walk alone and I stumble only to be pulled back up by my Lord and GOD...

Anonymous said...

Simple Faith. That's what we need, yet many of us lack such a childlike faith in our Lord. Thanks for the reminder, and yes, I'll definitely need more Faith.

Vincent Chia