Theme: Fear not, the Lord will not forsake you
Text: 1 Kings 19:9-13; Rom. 9:1-5; Matt. 14:22-33
Today we are celebrating Health Sunday to climax the 2005 Health week celebration of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and the theme for today’s sermon is “Fear not, the Lord will not forsake you”. This is a call to the believer not to be afraid because the Lord controls everything and He has promised never to forsake us no matter the situation we find ourselves in. The reality, however, is that in spite of this assurance many believers are living a life of fear instead of living a life grounded and rooted in the love and Word of God. They are afraid of sickness, disease, hunger and poverty. They are afraid of thieves and armed robbers and of loosing their possessions. They are plagued by a thousand and one unnecessary fears, unnecessary because God has already provided the solution. And this solution can only be found in Jesus Christ. We can do nothing about our fears but He can and He has constantly demonstrated that He cares about us. We should always remember His words “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly”. He is able to provide for us and His will for us is “to prosper and be in health, even as our soul prospers”. In today’s gospel reading the disciples, usually witnesses and helpers are themselves the recipients and the beneficiaries of a miracle. Today let us not only be witnesses to what Christ is doing and to the healing of the sick but let us also experience His intervention in our lives and let us experience His healing. Let us fear not and believe that the Lord will not forsake us and let our lives testify that indeed Jesus cares and acts on our behalf.
Responding to fear is to believe and act contrary to the word of God. Fear is directly opposed to faith, as faith believes what God has said. This is the reason why a child of God must grow to spiritual maturity. As he grows spiritually he will increase in faith and grow in love and “there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear” 1 Jn. 4:18. Fear believes not only what is contrary to the Word of God but also what is contrary to the nature of God. The Scriptures reveal that God is a good God who loves us and has a good plan for our lives and His will is to fulfil those plans. He can certainly do so because He not only sees and controls everything but also is willing and able to meet every need. We often portray God in ways that conflict with the nature of God portrayed in the Scriptures.
Every life consists of a series of experiences and encounters and a series of challenges and tests. Sometimes after living for a period, experiencing the ups and downs, the joys and sadness of life, we often ask the question how we came to be so far from where we were supposed to be. It happened to Elijah who after experiencing a great victory at Mount Carmel had to run for his life from Jezebel. It may have happened to you or it is yet to happen to you. It happens because we are much more concerned with the physical than with the spiritual. We equate those things that are visible with the truth and often forget that it is the spiritual, those things that are not visible, that really matters. What we see and feel are a response that links us to our circumstances or situations whereas what we accept by faith links us to God and that is the best thing that can happen to us. If we are going to live a successful life we cannot afford to rely on our flesh. We need to be ready to step outside the boat and walk on the water with Jesus if He commands us to. Just as God met the need of Elijah and the disciples when they obeyed Him so He continues to our need today if we also will trust and obey Him. Just as Jesus saw his disciples struggling in the storm and came to help them so He sees us during our storms in life and comes to help us. God knows everything about us and sees everything that we are going through and it is His will to be with us and see us safely through whatever we are going through.
The only way to overcome fear is to respond with faith for “the just shall live by faith”. How can we do otherwise when we believe that the Lord is our Creator who knows what is best for us? How can we not believe that He created us for a purpose and that He has given us the blueprint of His plans for our life in His Word? Not only did the Lord create us but demonstrated how valuable we are by redeeming us. How can the Lord who paid a very high price for our redemption forsake us? How can the Lord who made us righteous with His own righteousness so that we could become the temple of the Holy Spirit forsake us? We need to believe the Scriptures that because the Holy Spirit lives in us we are no longer our own but the Lord’s.
God is always ready to help us and His help always comes at the right time. When God’s help is delayed it is because He has got a good reason for doing so. Jesus waited two more days after hearing about the death of Lazarus before going to him. His delay was so that God would be glorified. God’s delays always have a reason. Joseph was promised that he would someday be great and that his brothers would bow down to him. Sixteen years later he finds himself in a prison and no closer to his dream. The whole time Joseph was in prison God used it to build up his character and his time in prison was not wasted time. When God delays it is because He is working in our lives to reveal who we are or to reveal who He is. Jesus waited for His disciples to encounter the storm and be in it before going to them. Through it they were reminded that they too had needs and that they too had fears and doubts, and that they too needed Christ. We sometimes need to ask ourselves what we are doing where we are, sitting in this boat, when our destiny is to be with Jesus. Let us ask ourselves this morning where we are? And if you are not with Jesus today you can be with Him when you confess Him as your personal Saviour and Lord.
Faith gives us the assurance that God will never leave or forsake us and will be with us always even to the end of the age. It gives us the assurance that He will be with us as we go through the flood, through the fire, and even through death “For even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil: for He is with us”. Faith also gives us the assurance of an abundant life. Christ came to give us abundant life. This abundant life includes total healing, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We are to live and enjoy the life of Christ, a life of perfect and divine health.
We can only live and enjoy the life of Christ when we live by faith. When Peter saw Christ during the storm he was torn between fear and faith, between focusing on the waves or on Christ. Peter at first focused on Christ and walked towards Him on the water. But as is usually the case the devil immediately plants thoughts in our minds that take our focus off Christ to bring on fear. When Peter’s focus was directed to the violent wind fear rose up within him and he found himself between fear and faith. This is to doubt God and that is where many of us find ourselves today. We have obeyed Jesus’ command to come to Him and have begun to walk by faith obeying His instructions. But while walking by faith relying only on His Word, our adversary, the devil, has put thoughts in our minds to take them off Christ. We see a sickness instead of focusing on the Word of God that “with His stripes we have been healed” or “He has sent His Word and healed them” Or “He is the God that heals you”. Suddenly we doubt whether He can meet our needs instead of believing His Words “that He is able to supply all our needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus”. We become so conscious of what the devil can do that we forget “that in Christ we are more than conquerors”. When we begin to doubt it hinders our progress toward Christ. We can no longer decide whether to keep moving forward in faith toward Jesus or turn back to the boat. Some of us today find ourselves at the same place Peter found himself. We know we are doing God’s will and we know we are facing some opposition trying to push us back. We have begun to question the reality of what we heard and the reality of the Word that was deposited in our spirits. In asking Peter why he doubted, Jesus was asking what possible reason did he have to question what he had accepted as true a moment ago. In other words, Peter was assured it was Jesus, for he was walking on water to go to Jesus. But now he questions whether walking on water was consistent with what normally occurs in reality. He doubted and when his focus was diverted he began to sink. But he immediately refocused on Christ by praying a very short prayer. It is impossible to pray to God without focusing on Him. Jesus does not want anyone to go down with the boat when they are caught in the storms of life. He calls us to step out in an act of faith. To step out and doubt simply means failure and in the case of Peter he began to sink. Doubt will lead to failure but even at such a stage Jesus will always come to our assistance when we call on Him. If you have a doubt in your mind today, you just have to call out to the Lord and He will meet your need.
Jesus, after rescuing Peter, walked back to the boot with him and got in. Immediately the storm was over and there was peace. The disciples did the only thing they could they worshiped Him. They worshiped Jesus not because He calmed the storm, but because He is the Son of God. True worship praises God because of who He is, not because of what He has done. The presence of Christ not only stills the storms of life it brings us peace. This does not mean that we will no longer face any problems. The truth is that the presence of Christ will make Satan more determined to create storms that seek to distract and destroy us. But Christ will take care of us and give us peace even during the storms. He will even use those storms to serve His purpose and for our spiritual growth. Christ used the storm that the disciples faced to get Peter to let go of what he believed offered him security. Christ wanted Peter to leave the boat and put his trust in Him. Christ wants each one of us to leave what we have considered as being our security and put our trust in Him. What is your security in life? Only Jesus Christ can offer us true security not only in this life but also in the life to come. Let us be sure that we have eternal life by receiving Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour and Lord. Amen!
