Have
you ever wondered why it seems that so many of us Christians still struggle
with sin and failures in our Christian walk? It should not be so. Each and
every single true Christian has the same power that raised Christ from the dead
living inside them. The promises of the Holy Spirit are many and one is that we
are being changed from the inside out in a work theologians describe as
sanctification. Romans 8:5-11 is a clear example of the work of the Spirit in
those who are born again.
Yet
our lives continue to be marked by failures that show up in our fears, our
sins, and in our bent to live just as the world lives. My own life is a
constant battle to defeat sin and to live as the Bible calls me to live. So
what happens to us? Why do we start out so well and then drift away back into
our old selves?
I
believe the answer can be found in the Gospel of Matthew, verses 22-33. This is
the story of the disciples crossing the sea after Jesus sent them ahead as He
went off to pray. In the very dark of the night in the midst of a terrible
storm the disciples found themselves fearful as the waves threatened their very
lives. If that wasn’t scary enough, suddenly they see a figure they thought to
be a ghost walking on the water. The figure of course is Jesus who calls out to
them saying, "Take courage, it is I; do not
be afraid." Peter responds by asking Jesus to prove it is He by telling
Jesus to command him to come out there to Jesus. Of course Jesus tells Him to
come on out and Peter, as usual, does so without a thought. In that moment
Peter becomes only the second man to ever walk on water until something happens
that I cannot help but think reminds me of a funny scene from an old TV show.
Peter is doing find until he takes his eyes off of Jesus and seeing the wind he
realizes his fear of the storm and begins to sink. You have to admire Peter for
having the courage to step out in faith even though that courage is
short-lived. But Peter also knows what to do when he begins to sink, he cries
out to Jesus to save him and of course Jesus does. But Jesus does take this
opportunity to rebuke Peter for his lack of faith and his doubt.
If we look closely at this story we
see that the spiritual lesson is as much for us as it was for Peter and the
other disciples. First of all we see here that even when the storms of life
overtake us, we can trust that Jesus is there even if at first we do not see
Him. After Jesus rose and came to the disciples He promised this as found in Matthew 2, “…I am with you always,
even to the end of the age." That promise came on the end of the command
of the Great Commission and both the commandment and the promise are to us as
well.
Secondly take note that Jesus has
the power to stop the storm anytime He wishes. This doesn’t just mean He
controls the weather, though careful exegesis of scripture does teach this, it
also means Jesus has the power to bring a halt to the metaphorical storms of
our lives as well. Again if we look at the entirety of scripture we learn that
God uses trials and afflictions in our lives to grow us and prepare us for
eternity. In my many years of studying God’s Word I have learned that a proper
understanding of the sovereignty of God is essential to growing one’s faith.
But the greatest lesson we can take
away from this story is the key to all of our issues and struggles. Peter was
walking on water with no problem until he took his eyes off of Jesus. As soon
as he lost that focus he saw the wind and became afraid of what could happen if
Jesus did not reach out and save him. You see that is the lesson Jesus wants
all of us to learn. We can trust Him. We can believe the promises He has given
us. It has been said there are over 200 promises that Jesus made in the New
Testament and a good many of them are conditional. The condition is that we
must have faith in Jesus which would include believing that every single one of
those promises is true. Jesus rebuked Peter after pulling him from the water by
saying, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
So the way to stay sure we don’t
lose out faith is to not look at the storm we are in but to look at Jesus. Are
you afraid of something? Keep your eyes on Jesus. Are you lonely? Keep your
eyes on Jesus. Are you struggling with an addiction? Keep your eyes on Jesus.
Whatever sin you are wrestling with if you keep your eye on Jesus then you will
not commit that sin. Are you worried? Keep your eyes on Jesus. He has promised
to be there.
Keeping our eyes on Jesus is not
easy. Satan will throw every possible distraction at us. He will tempt us with
fear, worry, drugs, sex, money, food, and everything possible because he knows
if are focused on Jesus then we will be victorious. In order to keep our eyes
on Jesus we must do a few things to help us stay focused. First of all surround
ourselves with the body of Christ so we are mutually encouraging each other.
Secondly we must daily feed ourselves the Word of God. Romans 10:17 tells us that “…faith comes from hearing, and hearing
through the Word of Christ.” Thirdly we must discipline ourselves to “pray
without ceasing” as we read in 1
Thessalonians 5:17. If we do these things then we will grow in faith and be
empowered by the spirit of God as we keep our eyes on Jesus. Then victory over
every sin and every failure can be ours.
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