July, 2010: I was on vacation with my family. Every summer, I plan to get away for times of restoration and renewal. By that point in the ministry year, my energy level is at zero. And I need the time away from all ministry and work if I’m going to enter the fall with the ability to love Jesus and other people. J That summer I felt even more depleted than usual. I could really feel the need for the getaway, and I was looking forward to letting God fill me back up.
Just a few days into vacation, we did a family study on Matthew 14, the story of Jesus walking on water. Last week I wrote about how I was both inspired and haunted by one fact: Peter walked on water, and he didn’t have to.
But there’s something else that inspires and haunts me about that story:
Peter sank, and he didn’t have to.
Only a day after our Bible study, my wife Marcia went on a bike ride. To make a long story short, soon after she left, she was found on the side of the road, unconscious and badly injured. She had somehow fallen in the middle of a steep curve in the road. By the time I got to her, the paramedics were already loading her into an ambulance.
Marcia was conscious at this point, but she didn’t know who I was. She didn’t know that she had children. All she knew was that she was in great pain.
The first 24 hours were rough, but we made it through. Marcia started to remember things, and her brain didn’t swell. When the neurologist stated that he thought she’d make a full recovery, we rejoiced.
But she still needed a lot of help; she’d shattered her collarbone. Cutting the vacation short, we returned home, so I could nurse her back to health. For a few weeks, I was being Dad and Mom to the kids – and I haven’t mentioned that we were preparing for my son’s wedding, which was just weeks away.
After Marcia’s positive prognosis, after all the rejoicing and praising God, I suddenly realized: I’d lost my vacation. The wedding came and went, August arrived, and I hadn’t had any break.
“I can’t do this.” That’s what came to mind as we started gearing up for fall. I still felt empty, and now I needed to launch into the busiest season of the year.
That’s when our study of Peter came to mind.
He sank, and he didn’t have to.
It was the power of Christ that made it possible for Peter to walk on water. And yet he sank. Did Jesus somehow stumble? No! HE never sank! Does this mean that God’s power can have you WALKING ON WATER, but YOU can make yourself SINK simply by DOUBTING?
Henry Ford once said, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”
What if when I say, “I can’t do this,” I’m right?
And when I say, “I can do this,” I’m also right?
I think storms have that effect. They drain you until you cannot see a future … until all you can see is waves coming over you … and you become convinced that you will drown. Peter probably would have blamed the storm for his sinking. The reality is that we make decisions in personal storms of chaos that would never make sense when life is calm.
It was true for Peter. While the power of Christ made him able to walk on water in the storm, there was something PETER DECIDED about the storm that caused him to sink.
Anytime you decide you can’t do this anymore, YOU’RE RIGHT.
What if you’re right because you said so?
Is there a LAW OF EXPECTANT FAITH that is as powerful as the Laws of Nature and can somehow defy those laws? When Jesus said, “You of little faith – why did you doubt?” he put the blame on Peter!
What if my expectant faith determines whether I walk or sink?
It’s the beginning of a new year. You WILL have storms; you might be experiencing one now. What if you need to stop embracing the laws of nature – which say you will sink – and start embracing the Law of Expectant Faith? Here’s what I believe to be true:
High expectations + doing the hard things = high reward.
People with expectant faith, who do what Jesus asks, tend to walk on water. Those who doubt tend to sink. The rest never get out of the boat.
You have places where you need to walk on water this year.
What if the storm is the very thing that sets the stage for walking on water?
Will you embrace the Law of Expectant Faith? Or the Law of the Storm?
Thank you for the words of wisdom. I know what I have to do now! Amen
PK,
Similar to your wife, Marcia, my mother was also in a freak accident the day after Thanksgiving this year, where she suffered frontal lobe brain damage. The doctors are expecting a full recovery, however, right now we cannot see it. She has been in the hospital for 5 1/2 weeks now. I know that God has bigger plans for us as a family throughout this storm in our lives, and that is what keeps me strong. Trusting Him. We celebrate her little victories everyday, knowing that one day she will be fully recovered by the hands of the Great Physician. Thank you for posting. It’s reassuring to know that there are other families who can relate to the stress, hurt, and pain we feel. But to also know that through this, there is hope, healing, and redemption that only comes from Our gracious Father in Heaven.
What a great lesson for us to take into the new year. When I think of Peter in this story, I am reminded that the Word says he “began to sink”. We often find ourselves somewhere between drowning and walking on water, which reminds me that it is a daily -even moment by moment walk of faith. The other reminder is what caused Peter to begin to sink in the first place – he took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the storm. Lord, help me to keep my eyes on you, with whom nothing is impossible.