Getting Out Of The Boat
Friday, May 31, 2017
Getting Out Of The Boat
Scripture:
Matthew 14:28-33
28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You,
command me to come to You on the water.”
29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come
down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But
when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and
beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand
and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you
doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the
wind ceased.
33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped
Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
Devotional:
I love this story of Peter and
Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. I got to travel to Israel in 2002 with my church and
my little Bible school group, and one of the features of our tour was time
around the Sea of Galilee and a ride on a fishing boat in the Sea itself.
The setting is so beautiful. The
shore is made of thousands of tiny crustacean shells, the air is salty and
breezy. The gentle hills surrounding are peaceful and lovely.
The Sea itself is tiny, quiet,
barely qualifying for lake status in comparison to our massive oceans, and in
my case the Pacific coast of the United States. Being in the middle of it, I
could scarcely imagine a storm strong enough to toss the boat around. However,
the Sea of Galilee is known for its sudden and surprising gales.
I have been on a few boats in my
lifetime. I have never been on a boat in a storm, thankfully, but I have
experienced Midwestern tornadoes driving in my car and truly feared for my
life. There were a few times that I thought I was going to have to take the advice
of the weather safety guidelines and leave my car to lay down in a ditch and hope
the tornado would not sweep me away. While Peter did not experience the terror
of a Midwestern cyclone, the fear of his life being in the hands of this storm
must have been very real. If we take time to study Peter’s walk with the Lord,
we see that he spent a good portion of his time with the Lord trying to prove
that he had faith, and at times finding himself with egg on his face and
needing to repent.
His bravado reminds me of me in
the early days of my own walk. “I can do it!” was my attitude, though I thought
I was exercising faith. I have since learned that the simple act of stepping
out and trusting the Lord is true faith. Mustering up bravado isn’t what the
Lord wants of me. In truth, He wants me to lean on Him. He wants to do mighty
things through me, just as He did through Peter after Peter came to a humbler
place, but by way of true trust in Him and His strength.
God is so good to pull us out of
the water when we are sinking. He is faithful and just to hold us up, and He
will always walk with us as we grow in Him.
In the storms of parenting our
strong willed children, I pray that we would find ourselves holding on to Him
today and every day.
Prayer:
Father, there are so many times
that in the storms of life I want to strike out on my own and solve my own problems.
I see how You handled storms, I see how You walked through life and I want to
be able to do the same. I reach out my hand today and confess that I need You
to hold me up, and to do the mighty things necessary to address my very real
struggles.
(Intercession):
Today I lift up my child(ren).
(Take the time to name challenges, hurts, character defects, behavior problems,
areas of need. Ask God to intervene, lay these challenges at His feet.)
Lord, I thank You that You have
brought me yet again to Your throne, and that I can leave these concerns with
You. I ask that as often as they are brought to mind today, You would prompt me
to pray for them. I put my hand in Yours so that I can walk alongside you in
peace and safety
In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.
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