God Will Only Lead You, As Far As Your Faith Will Take You…
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Account of Peter Walking on Water…
Matt 14:22 ¶ And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
Our text begins with Jesus having just performed the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 with the five loaves and two fishes.
Jesus and the disciples were by the Sea of Galilee when this miracle had been performed. And, afterwards they were in need of getting to the other side.
So, Jesus tells His disciples to go get into a ship and go to the other side and He will join them later.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
The disciple’s leave, and Jesus goes up to the top of a mountain and spends some time praying.
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
The disciples find themselves in the boat, in the middle of the sea, in a horrible storm.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
The “fourth watch” means that it was sometime between 3:00-6:00 a.m.
They have been out their all night in this storm, and Jesus comes walking to them on the water early in the morning.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
Now, the disciples do not know what to think.
They probably are having a difficult time seeing as a result of the tossing of the boat, the mist of the boisterous waves, the rain and wind…
They see something out on the water coming towards them…they don’t know for sure, but it looks like it is a person…or a spirit they thought for a moment…needless to say they were scared.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
Jesus tries to calm them by letting them know who He was…
And, if this account in the Bible isn’t interesting enough…it gets even more exciting…
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Peter says, “Lord, if it really is You…let me walk on the water too!”
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
The word Jesus uses here to me is powerful… “Come! Alright Peter, come on”…Peter gets out of the boat…
Peter believes that if it really is Jesus, then He will allow Him to walk out to Him…Peter exercises faith… and he begins to walk on the water to Jesus.
And, things are going great! Can’t you just picture in your mind Peter and Jesus out there on the See of Galilee walking on the top of the water!
But, (Houston we have a problem)…we have a problem…Peter makes a mistake…he begins to look around…
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Peter begins to take his focus, his eyes off of Jesus…
He sees the storm rather than seeing the Son of God, and he begins to doubt…
Peter begins to think to himself… “Hey, I can’t walk on water! When have I ever walked on water?”
Peter, rather than being filled with the faith that he had when he stepped out of the boat, begins to be filled with unbelief.
Peter begins to sink into the water, he begins to be overcome by the wind and the waves…he begins to drown…
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Concluding thoughts…
Now, some of you may think about this story and wonder…how is this an example of faith?
Let me share some thoughts with you about it…
Peter experienced something that the others didn’t.
Peter walked on water. The other disciples stayed in the boat.
Not only did Peter do something that the other disciples didn’t…but, only Peter and Christ, have ever walked on water in the history of mankind.
Peter asked for something that none of the others asked for…he asked for something extraordinary! And he believed that he would receive it.
Peter’s first thoughts when he saw Jesus was… “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.”
Peter didn’t ask for the wind or the waves, or the storm to be ceased…
Peter was focused on who the Lord is, and the possibilities He possesses.
Peter didn’t ask for something that couldn’t be done. The Lord didn’t say, “Oh, Peter, you know you can’t have that.”
Peter didn’t limit the Lord for only asking for what is humanly possible.
Peter knew that all things are possible with God!
Remember the rest of our verse from last week…
Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Peter exercised faith…and, Peter was rewarded for believing…
Peter’s faith involved three things...
Peter believed…he believed that Jesus was who He said He was, and that He could do anything.
Peter asked…He asked Jesus for the impossible.
Peter obeyed…He stepped out of the boat obeying the Lords command to “Come”.
Believe, Ask/Seek, Obey…And as a result of that kind of faith…Peter got an opportunity to walk on water…
God will only lead you, as far as your faith will take you!
We need to quit sitting in the world of the possible, and start walking in the world of impossible…because…
God isn’t asking us to do what we can…He is asking us to trust in Him to do through us what we can’t…
Some may look at this account of Peter that day on the water and say that it took “great faith”. I don’t know if it was great faith, or just plain simple, real faith. Believing that God can, and that God will!
Peter’s greatest strength was his boldness, his exercise of faith…no matter how brief it was, or how long it lasted.
Yet, Peter’s greatest weakness, what kept him from staying on the water was fear, distraction, and doubt.
And, that is our greatest weakness, our greatest defeat as well.
Jesus gently rebuked Peter…vs 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
“Peter, what happened?” “You were doing so well…why did you take your eyes off of Me?”
Remember, God will only lead you as far as your faith will take you!
Don’t settle for less than what God wants to give!
The Lord proved Himself that day to Peter…and God still often proves Himself today…
If you haven’t been seeing God work mightily in your life lately…maybe it is because you haven’t asked Him, or you haven’t believed Him!
Believe, and seek Him…and let Him honor His Word…for if you believe…He will reward you!
