AVOIDING LIFES CLIFFS
Facing Fear
Matthew 14:22-32
INTRODUCTION
A man was being chased by a tiger. He ran as hard as he could until he was at the edge of a cliff with the tiger in hot pursuit. The man looked over the edge of the cliff and saw a branch growing out of the side of the cliff a few feet down. He jumped down and grabbed the branch just as the tiger reached the cliff. The tiger growled viciously as the man sighed a great sigh of relief.
Just then a mouse came out from a crevice and began to chew on the branch. The man looked down to what was a drop of a thousand feet and sure death and looked to the heavens and yelled out, "Dear God, if you are there, please help. I will do anything you ask but please help."
Suddenly a voice came booming down from heaven, "You will do anything I ask?" it questioned.
The man shocked to hear a reply to his plea yelled back, "I will gladly do anything you ask, but please save me."
The voice from heaven then replied, "There is one way to save you but it will take courage and faith."
The branch began to weaken from the mouse and the tiger was still growling a few feet above the man, "Please, Lord, tell me what I must do and I will do it. Your will is my will."
The voice from heaven then said, "All right then, let go of the branch."
The man looked down to a fall of a thousand feet and certain death. He looked up at the hungry tiger a few feet away and he looked at the mouse still chewing on the branch. Then he looked up at the heavens and yelled, "Is there anyone else up there?" (Contributed to Sermon Central by Danny Thomas)
It sounds funny, but that story is far more like us than we care to think. Far too often we are more focused on what we want, or what we think is best than to listen to what God is saying to us and doing what God asks us to do. We spend more time worrying about how things look than about how things are. Way too much of the time we only go through the motions, we really don’t respond out of our faith.
The disciples were on a small boat out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. The weather started getting rough. I don’t know how many of you have ever been out on the water when the weather turned bad, but it is a frightening experience. I have a hard time imagining how frightening things must have been on that fishing boat.
As the disciples were bouncing around suddenly they see something that their minds know to be impossible, even in good weather. A man was walking toward them on the water. If you are already a bit scared because of the rough seas and now you see this?
The disciples knew that they had to be either dreaming or seeing things, or this was something beyond the natural laws of the world around them. That little bit of knowledge would be enough to scare most any of us.
Then Jesus tells them not to be afraid. (That statement probably came at least a minute or two too late.)
Somehow, Peter, however, even from his fear, manages to say, “Lord, if it is really you, call me out to you on the water.” Jesus then tells him to come and Peter gets out of the boat and begins walking on the water toward Jesus. The other disciples however, remain huddled together, in the safety of the boat which is being rocked back and forth by the wind and waves.
If there is one emotion that will affect how you respond to the storms of life, it is fear.
Fear will either propel you towards God, or it will paralyze you from ever stepping out in faith for Gods will for your life.
THE FACT OF FEAR
You would think that after spending time with Jesus, eating with Jesus, watching Jesus feed the crowds and heal the sick, the disciples would have faith down pat.
But the fact of the matter is that the Bible does not paint a fear free life.
Judgeing from scripture, Gods people seem to be tormented by the same fears as everyone else.
Perhaps the most notable story of the power of fear, is when twelve of Isreal’s leaders were commissioned to spy out the promised land.
The Bible says that ten of the leaders returned with the report of how large and well-armed the Canaanites were. They spread the word that the people of the land were fierce and that giants were prevalent.
Despite the pleadings of Joshua and Caleb to trust God and His promise, the people chose to believe the fearful word of the ten spies.
The result was their collective fear caused them to wander in Judea’s wilderness for 40 years.
Later we read of that the proud Isrealite army lived in fear of one man- GOLIATH. Standing nine feet tall, Goliaths fame had spread like wildfire through the Israelite camp. Even King Saul allowed fear of the giant to rule his life and decisions.
And of course there were the disciples.
The disciples, who had Jesus beside them, were constantly fearful, of storms, of crowds, of poverty, of armies, of the loss of their leader. The gospels record at least three experiences of the disciples on the lake crossing to the their side when they encounter a storm.
These were men who were not novices. They were well aware of the dangers the lake held. But their expereince as fishermen along with their experiences with Jesus should have emboldened their faith to trust God.
Yet, even when they see Jesus walking on the water, they are paralyzed by fear.
Fear is a part of life. On the positive side, fear is what keeps us from putting our hands in a camp fire so we don’t get burned. Fear is what keeps us from putting our hands through the lions cage at the zoo.
Spiritually speaking, fear is what keep us focused on God and His will and plan for our lives.
On the negative side, if we allow it, fear will either propel us toward God or it will paralyze us from fuliflling Gods plan for our lives and to doubt his presence and promise for our lives.
THE TRYANNY OF FEAR: What does fear do?
As we study this story carefully we find some key principles of the tyranny of fear.
First of all fear disregards God’s plan. Jesus had told the disciples to take the boat to the other side. The storm had caused them to refocus their attention on the problem and off the course they were to take. Jesus command was clear,, Go to the other side of the Lake.
That as all the word Jesus gave them, it was all they should have needed.
You may be standing at the threshold of God’s greatest promise for you, but you will never claim His blessing if you allow fear to dominate your life. He wants so much fullness for you in His perfect plan, but only your short sighted fear can withhold it from you. Listen carefully to the words of Paul on this subject,
God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid but a spirit of power and love and self-control. ( 2 Tim 1:7, NCV)
Be careful, fear will cause you to disregard Gods plan for your life.
Secondly, fear distorts God’s purposes. Fear brings out our worst. It ushers in complaining, distrust, finger pointing, and despair.
We are not privy to the discussion the disciples had during the storm. But their reaction shouts the loudest in their silence. As I studied this passage, I noticed two things about the eleven disciples. When Peter decided to step out of the boat, no one tried to stop him. Then when Peter started to sink, no one tried to save him.
The reason was that fear had distorted their vision.
Their vision of Jesus was distorted. Matthew says they were afraid because they thought they saw a ghost. Even Jesus reassurance could not comfort them. They were so paralyzed by the strength of the storm they could not, nor would not see Jesus trying to help them.
It was a common superstitious belief that if ghosts appeared they were an omen of Gods impending judgment.
How many times have I heard it spoken, “God must be really angry with me. Look at what I am going through” Fear distorts your view of God.
The storm is not meant to destroy you, it is meant to reveal the Power of God who is in control of every storm.
Then fear distorts their purpose. Fear will cause you to become comfortable with where you are. You will not risk moving out in faith and trust in God because you are afraid of leaving your comfort zone.
God is present in your life, but like the disciples He is more of an ethereal, unapproachable mist than the real, immanent Almighty God who reaches out to save you. When that happens we fail to see the needs and opportunities to help others.
Dr.David Jeremiah writes, ‘fear distorts our perception of Gods purposes. It shows life through a fun house mirror, without the fun.’
Fear distorts Gods purposes, it disregards Gods plan and thirdly it disbelieves Gods promises.
You’ve got to commend Peter for risking it all to step out toward Jesus. It was something no one had ever done before, and has never done since. It was a true step of faith. But like so many when Peter took his eyes off the Savior and focused on the waves, fear took over. HE forgot the promises of God.
Jesus said, come. That was the assurance of Jesus word to step out. It was the single promise Peter needed for success.
This was a test of Peters faith. He had everything he needed to succeed, and pass the test. A few hours earlier, Jesus fed the 5000. One day earlier Jesus had performed incredible miracles of healing. HE could trust Jesus word to sustain him.
But, Peters experience so mirrors our experience of faith and fear doesn’t it?
We have everything we need to pass the test. We can testify to Gods provision in the past. Just like Peter, we should be able to look back and say, ‘God has brought us this far; He will bring us home’.
Memory and experience should empower us. But we struggle to do that very thing; the moments crisis seems to magnify itself. The rearview mirror should give us perspective, but we don’t look at the mirror at all, our eyes are frozen by what’s in the headlights’ ( D.Jeremiah)
Peter should have trusted Jesus promise. He had the experience and testimony, but he was so mesmerized by the power of the wind He could not even trust the one whose voice commanded the wind in the first place.
Fear disbelieves Gods promise.
OUR FOCUS SHOULD BE ON JESUS WHO WORKS FOR US IN THE STORM
What does Jesus do for us in the storm?
1. He prays for us (vv. 23,24).
In verses 22 and 23, we find that while the disciples were out in the lake during the storm, our Lord was praying. He prays for us. In Hebrews, Chapter 4 and verse 14, we have a promise of our Lord and how He intercedes for us.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Jesus came to this world to reveal God to us and He is now in heaven talking to God about us. The Hebrew writer said that Jesus intercedes for us in our time of need. And literally in the Greek it means, "In the nick of time." In other words, as we are here on earth encountering storms in our life, our Lord is at the right hand of the Father, interceding, praying for us. He comes to us and He ministers to us in the very nick of time.
I have great news for you today, if you’re walking through the toughest time of your life, Jesus is praying for you. He’s interceding for you. He’s caring for you. He’s taking your need to the Father and he knows all about your needs because He’s been there. He’s walked where we’ve walked. He’s felt what we’ve felt. He’s seen what we’ve seen. He’s heard what we’ve heard. And He goes to the Father and He says, "Listen, that’s one of my children and I died for them." He prays for us during the storm.
2. He comes to us (v. 25).
During the storm of life, He’s not an aloof God, but He enters into our storm. Look at verse 25, "A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples."
Do you know what Malachi says about God? That God sits as a refiner and purifies the silver. Malachi says that God is like a silversmith. At Upper Canada village east of Morrisburg, they have a silversmith. This is how he would describe his job,…..
"I must sit with my eyes steadily fixed on the furnace, for if the time necessary for refining be exceeded in the slightest degree, the silver will be injured." … "I never take my eye off of the silver in the furnace. I don’t want to take it out too early because if I take it out too early, it won’t be purified. But I don’t want to leave it in too late because if I leave it in too late, it will be injured." So he said, "When the silver is in the fire, I focus. I don’t let anything distract me, I let nothing take off my focus. I watch that silver carefully, waiting for that right moment to take it out." And they asked him, "When’s the right moment?" And he said, "I know the silver is pure when I can see my face reflected in it."
Maybe this doesn’t happen to you , but I always think I’m in the worst part of the storm. As soon as the storm comes, I’m saying, "Okay, God, bail me out. Here I am. Find me. Rescue me."
But sometimes he doesn’t rescue me. Sometimes he doesn’t come. I have to have the assurance that He is the great silversmith and while I’m in the furnace, He focuses and watches. His job isn’t a quick rescue mission. His job is to purify me. So He holds until the right moment and then He comes. Never too early, never too late. Just on time.
Note when Jesus comes to us...
A. He comes to us at the darkest hour. "...a little before morning..."
That’s when Jesus came. We know that the darkest hour of the night is right before the dawn, a little while right before the morning. We used to sing a hymn,
Just a closer Walk With Thee, grant it Jesus is my plea, daily walking close to thee, let it be dear Lord let it be’
He walks into the storms of life just at your darkest hour. The time when you’re the most needy. The time when the silver is just right, that’s when He comes out to the boat. Do you notice they’d been in the storm for quite a while? Was Jesus apathetic? No. Was he ignorant? Absolutely not. He saw everything. He knew where they were. He saw their fears. He heard their cries. But He didn’t come until the hour was the darkest.
B. He comes to us victorious over our greatest fears. "...Jesus came walking on the water..."
( John Maxwell) In other words, he comes walking on the very thing that frightened the disciples. Do you see it? What are they worried about? They’re worried about the waves. That boat is being tossed back and forth. They’re afraid they’re going to drown. They’re afraid it’s going to capsize. They’re looking at those high waves coming over the sides of that boat. They’re bailing water as fast as they can. These guys are fishermen. They have been on the water all their life. They’re scared spitless. The waves are coming and all of a sudden, on the very thing that fears them, those high waves, the place where their greatest fears are resting, Jesus comes walking.
In His quiet, majestic way, as He’s walking on the water, Jesus is saying, "Guys, the thing that is the greatest storm in your life, I keep under my feet." If you’re sick, He comes walking on your sickness. If you’re afraid of death, what did He do on Easter? He came walking on the waves of death, "Oh, death where is thy sting? Oh, grave where is thy victory?"
He’s standing on top of the stone. He’s saying, "I’m able to do exceedingly, abundantly more than you can ever ask or think. I can do that which gives you the greatest fear, the thing which causes you to tremble, the thing which causes you to falter. I come walking on it. I stand on that stuff. I’m victor. I’m the one who reigns. "
They’re worried about those waves getting in the boat, and He’s just coming right on across. And he says, "Fellas, you may be worried about it but I step on stuff like this."
There’s a great passage of Scripture, Isaiah 43: "But now, the Lord who created you, O Israel, says, ’Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you go through the deep waters and the great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through the rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up, and the flames will not consume you. Why? For I am the Lord, your God.’"
3. He ministers to us (vv. 26,27).
Look what happens in verse 26 and 27, are you ready? "When they saw Him, they thought He was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming. At once Jesus said to them, `I am Jesus. Don’t be afraid.’"
He ministers to us in spite of our misunderstandings. They didn’t know what was happening. They looked out and thought He was a ghost. They were scared to death. Now, they’re even more scared. They don’t have a grasp of the situation, and Jesus walks in and says "Don’t worry."
You know, I run into Christians all the time who somehow think that they should understand everything. Do you know nowhere in the Bible does it tell you, as a believer, that you should understand everything? I run into Christians who feel guilty because they say, "I’m going through a terrible storm in my life and I don’t know what’s happening to me, and there must be something wrong with me because my connection must not be right with God or surely I could figure it out." Can I tell you something? There are things in this life that you and I are never going to figure out. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that you’re going to know everything. In fact, Paul said, "We look through a glass darkly on this earth." We look through a smoky glass.
Now, He says there will be a time when we’re with Him, when we’re going to see clearly. But you’re not going to understand everything. You’ve got a pastor that doesn’t understand everything. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t even like pastors that have all the answers. I don’t like Christians that have all the answers. I don’t like Christians who, with little clichés will pass off stuff to you, as if giving you a little fodder, a little slogan, will take care of you. There are things I don’t understand. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that you’re going to understand everything.
Now, Paul says in Romans 8, "For we know all things work together." Paul said we know it. Why do we know it? Because we know that God’s on the throne and God’s sovereign. We know that it’s going to be okay because of God. But Paul doesn’t say you understand everything. We’re not going to figure it all out. You see, our security isn’t what we know in our mind. Our significance is not what we know. Our security is in Who we know. So we’re in the midst of the storm. We say, "I don’t understand it. I’m not even sure it’s fair. I don’t like it. But I know who’s sovereign over the storm."
And we can be just like Job. He wasn’t a prosperity preacher. He had more sense. He said, "The Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."
Job, do you like the ash heap? "Absolutely not." Do you like the boils? "No, thank you." Do you like your wife coming out the back door and saying, "Curse God and die?" "No, it doesn’t really thrill me. But the Lord gives and the Lord takes away." All Job is saying is, "I don’t understand it. Probably don’t think it’s right. Certainly don’t like it. But I know who’s in control."
A. He ministers to us in spite of our misunderstandings.
B. He ministers to us in spite of our fears.
Yeah, He does. You, see, the disciples have seen Jesus do some wonderful things. But they had never seen Jesus minister to them at the darkest, most difficult hour.
WHAT IS YOUR FOCUS?
As we conclude my question to us today is: what is your focus?
As you encounter Christ in your life do you focus on what He can do you for you today – this hour, this minute – to fulfill your every whim and request and then not be satisfied until He feeds you again? Or are you misunderstanding His role in your life? Jesus is out to change hearts and lives – to mold people into His likeness. He’s not here to fit in to your system, just like He wasn’t there to fit into the Israeli/Roman political scene.
Or are you like the disciples – focusing on how special it makes you to belong to Christ – focusing on your feeling of self importance, rather than on the work He has you doing? Or perhaps you are focused only on the storm – so much so that you discount the fact the Jesus could come walking on the water, come in some unexpected way to help you. You can’t believe He’s there so the only alternative is to think it must be something else – a ghost or something.
Instead we should do as Jesus did:
1. Focus on the Father
Spend regular time preparing for the irregular by seeking the Father – getting away alone if possible, and then focusing on Him by worship and praise, even during the tough times.
2. Focus on others
Instead of just worrying about what’s around you to do, see who else is in need and seek to help them. That was what Jesus did – He looked at the disciples straining at the oars and He went to them. Look for the brother or sister that is struggling and see what good you can do in their life.
3. Focus on Jesus
Peter’s problem was he took his eyes off Jesus – but Jesus never took his eyes off of Peter. Don’t let the storm around you become a distraction – instead, focus on the Lord, and on how you can obey Him and have that fearless faith. Maybe you’re a person who is rowing their boat against the storm – know that Jesus is watching you, caring for you, praying for you.
RESOURCES:
Full Life Bible commentary, Gospel of Mathew
Slaying the Giants in your Life, David Jeremiah
Sermoncentral, John Maxwell, Understanding Storms
Expository commentary on the New Testament, Warren
