Tripping on Waves

"Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. " Matthew 14:25

In one of the most most memorable miracles in the Bible, Jesus walks on water after a night of prayer and after sending the disciples out ahead of Him the day before in a boat. When they arose from there slumber to see Jesus walking across the lake, they were not just astonished but terrified that they might be seeing a ghost (what else looks like a man and walks on water?).

And for as amazing as that seems, that is not the greatest part of this story. The truly amazing thing is what comes next, Peter walks on water too!!! (Matthew 14:29)

Now, realizing that Jesus (the word that was at the beginning) knew what this was going to do for Christians everywhere..."If Peter could do it, then so can I" or is that really the case. I have seen many people give up dreams and visions that they have had because of the difficulties they faced to make them happen. The impossible challenges of opening their own business, the big mountain of debt you have to climb to be debt free, the time and money it would take to get the education you want, and so on. And yet with all of those things, we can see the Lord already out there in the middle of the challenge saying to us, "Come"

I GET EXCITED JUST THINKING ABOUT IT!!!!

"I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me" Phillipians 4:13 and I believe that. What we have to be reminded of is that this is not a free ride. God does not give out trophy blessings that just sit on the shelf. Your blessings are meant to accomplish something and take you (or someone else) to a place they have never been in God before. I tell you now the the blessing of a good job is not just for you and your family. The blessing of graduating from college is not just a personal achievement, it is a goal that is a blessing to many. But what if you never tried, or never attempted to accomplish those things? What blessings would be blocked by your unwillingness? That is why you got to try.

Peter walked on water.....Peter walked on water....Peter walked on WATER! That is amazing, that is God! Yes, he got scared. Yes, he started to fall, but Peter walked on water. And you know what, it was not the water that gave him the doubts, it was the wind (Matthew 14:30)

So that means that the challenge itself can not be the thing that keeps us from success, and even the wind itself wasn't what got to Peter. He was distracted from his task and overcome by what he could not see (wind) such that he was overwelmed but his inability to do what he was already doing. BUT...Peter walked on water.

Those in the boat had more faith in the vessel that in the Lord that was in the middle of the water. And many of them saw Peter struggling and that alone solidified their fear to walk on the water. "If he is going to trip over the waves, I'm surely going to sink", i can here them say. I can here us say similar things today as we compare other peoples challenges and setbacks to out yet-to-be-taken path to success. But I can tell you right now that I would rather be tripping on the waves, than standing on the boat.