Matthew 14: 22 – 33 / Abandon Ship
Intro: Jed felt that his who life misfortune had been his lot; yet, he never complained / wife ran off with hired hand / daughter ran off with traveling salesman / son was lynched / fire burned down barn / cyclone blew away house / hail storm destroyed crops / banker foreclosed on the farm / landed in the county poorhouse / overseer sent him to plow a field. A thunderstorm was passing over and without warning a bolt of lightening descended from the sky melting the plow, stripping of most of his clothing, throwing him through a barbed wire fence. When he recovered consciousness, he got up slowly to his knees, clasped his hands, raised his eyes toward heaven and said, “Lord, this is getting plumb ridiculous.” (Sensing God During the Storm Part 1 by John Maxwell – SemonCentral.com)
I. Does Jed’s life sound like yours? Have you ever had one of those days?
A. Vs. 22 – “Jesus made the disciples get into the boat.” Jesus shoved them in the boat and said, “go, get out of here.”
B. Can’t you just see the disciples? --- (the 4th watch is between 3 & 6 am) Out there for 12 hours or more. “Why did Jesus send us out here?”
C. We get in the boat of life. We start rowing with a destination in mind. Yet the wind constantly beats against us and the waves of life wear us out.--- How do we get through the storm to the other side?
II. Vs. 25 – 27 . . . Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
A. In the midst of their struggling and getting nowhere, Jesus comes and instead of being overjoyed, the disciples are terrified. Jesus wasn’t laughing at himself as they were screaming in fear.
B. Take courage! It is I.”ego eimi – ego means I. Not usually used in Greek unless there is an emphasis being made. --- When you’ve forgotten your keys, you knock on the door, “IT’S ME!”
C. You may have been “spinning your wheels for hours, days or months – frustrated! In the midst of it all Jesus comes to reassure us as he did the disciples. Christ Jesus is in charge and has not abandoned you or shoved you out to sea to just drown!
III. Vs. 28 – 29 “Lord, if it is really you, . . .” IF – doubt – Jesus called to Peter to “COME” --- ABANDON SHIP! Come walk on water, do the seemingly impossible.
A. Would you abandon ship and walk on the water OR stay in the boat because it was safe? Even when we have stepped out of the boat we are often like Peter.
B. When the wind and waves of life distract us – difficult family situations, illness, the death of a loved one or mountains of bills, whatever the case, . . when we see the wind and waves of life, we doubt that our Lord will take care of us. --- LORD SAVE ME!
C. You can walk on water ---- But, first you have to get out of the boat! Trust that Jesus will be there for you. - - - Look how quickly Jesus acted, Vs. 31 “Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.”
Conclu: Many of us need to be more like the little girl a farmer found lost in his meadow. The farmer comforted her, “Don’t cry, I’ll take you home.” The child looked up at him with a smile saying, “I knew you would; I was waiting for you.” “Waiting for me?” said the farmer. “What made you think I was coming?” “I was praying you would.” She said. “Praying? When I first heard you, you were saying A B C D E F G. What was that for?” She looked up again and said, “I’m just a little girl. I was praying all the letters of the alphabet and letting God put them together the way He wanted to. He knows I was lost, and He knows how to put them together better than I do.” (Move With God Beyond Your Comfort Zone, by Marilyn Murphree, SermonCentral.com)
What a difference it would make if we would only abandon ship and let God put the letters of our lives together.
