Leap Of Faith

Dear Precious Friends,

I pray you are waking up to a new day, thanking the one who gave it to us and lifting His name on High for the deep deep love He has given us. I am especially fond of the scripture from Matthew 14:30 and named and dedicated our business Walk on Water to remember these truths from God's word.

“But when he {Peter} saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!." Matthew 14:30

We have all dreamt of doing something great for God. These dreams might involve some form of sacrifice or great leap of faith. We see others around us who have sold everything to follow Jesus as a missionary in some far corner of the world and view them as a person of great faith. We maybe even aspire to be like them.

Consider this, if we had been sitting in that boat with Peter, we would have thought he was brimming with faith as he began to climb out of the boat and walk toward Jesus. But suddenly, something even stranger happened and Peter began to sink.That courage and faith he had in Jesus was getting smaller as he saw the wind and the waves getting bigger. Oh my... can anyone else relate???

A true measure of a person’s faith then is not just the first step of their faith journey, but the subsequent steps thereafter. We deal with this every time we get excited about something, starting any given project only to stop halfway through because it was much more difficult than anticipated. The same thing happens when we believe Jesus would have us do something. We start doing it and it doesn’t turn out like we thought it would, or the ministry isn’t immediately growing, we begin to sink, losing faith in and sight of Jesus. What we must realize is that if Jesus has called us to make a first step, then he will provide a path for each step toward him after that.

Peter was in the middle of an awesome display of God’s power, and yet he “saw the wind,” or at least the effects of the wind. Peter began to look at the turbulence of the world and not at the One who created the world; “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). Every day we must take our eyes off of our own ability and the pulls of the world – take our eyes off the wind – and commit to trusting and keeping our eyes focused on Jesus. There are times when we clearly see the Lord's hand at work. Our eyes become focused on Jesus, His peace fills our life, and the foundation under our feet feels solid and secure. However, it’s usually not long before the wind begins to blow, the waves rise up, and we feel that sinking feeling. When this happens (and it will) we must not despair, for this is also part of God’s wonderful plan. As we are sinking, He always reaches out His hand as an invitation to draw near and know Him better – to know He will always be there when we cry out “Lord, save me!”

The walk of faith cannot be accomplished in our own strength. With each step we must “put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature” (Colossians 3:5), and “clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14). Don’t allow natural occurrences to determine the circumstances of our existence. Don’t be moved by what your natural senses can perceive; be moved only by the Word of God. Those who take their eyes away from the Word are easily overwhelmed by the crises of life. This was what happened to Peter; he took his eyes away from Jesus, the Living Word, to look at the waves. The waves here could mean the challenging circumstances that come against your faith. No matter how ferocious the attacks of the enemy may be, keep your eyes on Jesus, and walk on in victory.

AMEN.