Walking On Water Christianity

[JR]

Matthew 14: 22 – 33
Jesus sent His disciples across the sea to the other side while he went to pray. A huge storm came up, the wind was terrible and the disciples, being fisherman were convinced they would drown.
In the midst of this turmoil they see ‘a ghost’ walking on the water to them.


V27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

Peter then calls to Jesus that if that is Him, then Jesus must call Him to come to Him.
Jesus says come. Peter gets out the boat, and walks on the water to Jesus.

V30 But when he saw the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying’ “Lord, save me!”

Jesus reaches out and takes His hand and they get into the boat and immediately the
wind ceased.

V33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “TrulyYou are the Son of God.”

1. STORMS
In life, we will face devastating storms. We will face pressure, we will face emotional heartbreak and rejection, we will face death and loneliness, we will face losing all we have, we will face sickness etc.

Often in life those things can overwhelm us, so much, that we lose sight of Jesus and we begin to drown in those ‘waves’ that hit us. We are overburdened by the situation and feel like we are going to ‘drown’.

2. HIS VOICE
In the midst of this turmoil, if we listen, we will hear Jesus tell us its OK, He is with us, not to fear. But we do fear. We are brave for a moment at church when we are all hyped up, but the second we face ‘reality’ boy, those waves are huge, and we loose sight of Jesus.

3. CRY OUT
When all is too much for you, cry out like Peter did; “Lord, save me!” Sometimes all our fancy prayers and formulas mean nothing. We have nothing left to fight with. We are sinking fast. We have no words left to pray, no faith left, no fight left. We become weary to the point of giving up. Sorrow or pressures overwhelm us. What is left? Simply this: “Jesus, save me.”

Recently I went thru the storm. I have never in my life felt such rejection and sorrow. I lost my way completely. I could not see or hear Jesus. All my Christianity suddenly was worthless. All I could do was say those words over and over, “Jesus, save me, Jesus save me.”
He reached out and took my hand and delivered me. In an instant, the turmoil I experienced was gone, the pain and sorrow was gone.

4. WORSHIP HIM
When you have called out to Jesus, and He comes and delivers you, you will know without a shadow of doubt that He is your strong deliverer. He is your Fortress. He is the only one who can heal.

Psalm 17: 5 – 8

V 8 “Hide me under the shadow of your wings,”

We were NOT created to carry the heavy burdens of life. These burdens WILL overwhelm us and cause us to sink. Christians are sometimes the most miserable people on the face of the earth.

All you ever hear is talk about how bad the waves are. But beloved, if we would only see Jesus, we would know that all will be well.

Matthew 11: 27 – 30

V30 “ For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

All will be well. Do not fear; do not take eyes of Jesus. Call to Him and He will save you. Even in the midst of the biggest storm or challenge in your life, you will find that it no longer has power over you. You know there is a storm, but you ONLY HAVE EYES FOR JESUS. You have a peace and a joy that no man or thing can take from you.

When you experience Jesus as your deliverer, as your safe refuge, your rock, you will love Him more, you will worship Him more, and you will cry out like those fishermen on the boat: “Truly, You are the Son of God!”


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


Pastor Hannes is the senior pastor for Eastcoast Christian Centre, a Church in Port Elizabeth. Feel free to redistribute this article, but please include this About section with an active link to our website.