In Matthew 14:22 we see Jesus Walking on Water. We see Peter boldly asking to come to Him on the water. God these days is showing us supernatural things so that we can come out of the natural and live the supernatural.
The storm has always been and will be present in the Christian’s life, but in the midst of the storm it will be possible to see and clearly understand God’s care for us.
Storms generate moments of intimacy!
Jesus ordered the disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side, however Jesus dismissed the crowd. The disciples promptly obeyed Jesus’ voice, they got into the boat and left for the other side, but Jesus, who was dismissing the crowd, goes to the mountain, and there He goes to pray alone.
Matthew 14:22,23 – And then Jesus ordered his disciples to get into the boat, and go forward to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
And when the crowd was dismissed, he went up to the mountain to pray apart. And when the afternoon came, I was there alone.
Lesson 1: There will always be times in our lives when “apparently we will walk alone” we can understand when Jesus tells his disciples to go to the other side. It was as if Jesus at that moment said go, because I will stay here.
Those disciples were now embarking for the middle of the sea, but their master was staying. At that time maybe they didn’t understand what Jesus was saying, but they knew it was necessary to obey Jesus’ voice.
We will never understand God’s way of working, but we know that it is necessary to obey his voice. We will have times in our lives when we will experience the silence of God.
2nd Lesson: Jesus ordered them to leave for the other side of the sea, but Jesus goes up to the mountain to have a moment of intimacy with his father. A time when only he and his father talked through prayer. The afternoon had already arrived, and Jesus remained there only He praying.
Jesus teaches us that we must have intimate fellowship with the father, praying incessantly. We must pray, in the church, together with the brothers, but mainly we have a private moment, that is, just you and God.
Now I stay son, but you go on walking
There are times when we will enter the middle of the sea and everything will be calm, but suddenly the storm will survive, and the waves survive and the winds will blow in reverse, making us even think that we are shipwrecked.
Matthew 14:24-26 – And the boat was already in the middle of the sea, beaten by the waves; because the wind was contrary; But on the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went towards them, walking over the sea. And the disciples, seeing him walking on the sea, were frightened, saying, It is a ghost. And they screamed in fear.
There are times when we walk side by side with God, when we contemplate his miracles, wonders and feel his power in a supernatural way.
Moments that make us feel that we are being carried by God, like a child in the lap of its beloved father, but there are times when our Father says:
Now is the time for you to walk “alone” is the time for you to take your steps, because I want you to know your limits, dare with your faith, break the natural and aim for the supernatural.
Then we see a father full of love saying: “son starts walking, but I’ll stay here watching.”
God then lets us walk, and he stands in the distance watching us. And we start as a newborn child taking the first, second, and third steps. And like a child when we promptly stumble, He holds our hands and says son I’m here, carries us in His arms so that we can feel His love again.
Moments like this make us mature, make us experience with the Father, and know that on the way there are rocks, storms, strong winds, waves and even thorns, but God will be with us at all times, whether good or bad.
In this scenario the disciples see something they were not used to seeing, as they were seeing someone who was walking, but over the water.
The human reaction to that scenario was pure fear, because in this scenario there was a storm, there was wind, but there was something even greater in this scenario there was a person who was walking on the water and that person was Jesus.
Fear takes over those men and they start saying a ghost and start screaming
Matthew 14:26,27 – And the disciples, seeing him walking on the sea, were frightened, saying, It is a ghost. And they screamed in fear. But Jesus spoke to them at once, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, fear not.
Interestingly, Jesus looked into the hearts of those men, and at that moment they were filled with dread. Jesus then says to them, I’m not afraid it’s ME.
There was a disciple named Peter, who boldly will say Lord if it’s you, let me walk across the water to meet you. Jesus’ answer is simply, come!
Matthew 14:28,29 – And Peter answered him, and said, Lord, if it be thou, command me to come unto thee above the waters. And he said: Come. Peter, getting off the boat, walked on the water to go to Jesus.
Peter in a used way, gets off the boat and begins to walk on the water going to meet Jesus. Peter is walking on the water, but at one point, the same Peter who was daring to say: “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you over the water”, now he was carried away by fear and now Peter looks at the adverse situations, the strong wind, the difficulties, that is, Peter loses focus on Jesus.
Why did Peter go down?
Peter was afraid and now that Peter, who descended in a used way, now begins to sink and Peter’s reaction at that time was just to cry out, Lord, save me!
Matthew 14:29,30 – And he said, Come. Peter, getting off the boat, walked on the water to go to Jesus. But, feeling the strong wind, he was afraid; and beginning to sink to the bottom, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me!
There are times in our lives when we will be as bold as Peter was, but the storms and waves came the same way they did one day in Peter’s life. Adversity will come to try to take the focus away from Jesus and when the storm rises, we must keep looking at the target and crying out Jesus help me.
Matthew 14:31-33 – And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, and took hold of him, and said unto him, Man of little faith, why didst thou doubt? And when they climbed into the boat, the wind stilled. Then those in the boat approached and worshiped him, saying, Thou art truly the Son of God.
To overcome any and all difficulties, we have to have faith. By the time Peter got off the boat he was in extreme faith. Peter left the boat convinced that he would be experiencing something supernatural according to his faith in the word of Jesus, and he was convinced that he would not sink, but from the moment that Peter stopped looking at Jesus, and started looking at adversity, Peter look at adversity, and let adversity shake your faith.
Your faith must be able to destabilize the storm, not the storm be able to destabilize your faith.
When Peter looks at the storm, his faith is destabilized. We often walk boldly like Peter, but storms want to destabilize our faith.
God wants to teach us that we are able to walk but over water, break the storm, face the waves, because our faith is able to destabilize our storm, generating in us new experiences with God and experiencing its impossible.
May we take this word of faith to those who have not yet met God.
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