Lately my life has felt like a whirlwind of emotions. I am moving away for college in about a month, and that has brought a unique kind of stress into my life. My life seems to be consumed with packing for school, balancing my time with my family, my friends, and my job, while also dealing with all my own emotions and thoughts about moving! I feel like I am all over the place!!
I know that I can’t be the only one whose life seems to be consumed by a hard circumstance. I understand that you could be in the midst of a broken family situation or the loss of a loved one or an illness or a difficult decision or a hard relationship or maybe you’re just like me and you’re planning for a major change. Whatever your difficult circumstance may be, there is hope for you (:
Matthew 14:22-33 tells the story of when Jesus walked on water. If you’re anything like me you may be thinking “ummm… is walking on water even a real thing?? Because I have never seen someone do that!!” And you’re right in that walking on water is not humanly possible, but our sovereign God is famous for doing the impossible!!
So, check this out!! The disciples (who were Jesus’ best friends) were on a boat, and Jesus stayed back on the mountain to pray. “When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them,” (Matt. 14:23-24). Can you imagine what the disciples were thinking?! Matthew tells us that they were TERRIFIED! And I don’t blame them! A boat + a storm = NOT GOOD!! Then Jesus, who is on land, begins to walk on top of the water to get to his disciples. At first the disciples thought they were seeing a ghost (Matt. 14:26), which only adds to the fear they were already feeling!!
Then Jesus calls out to them saying “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid,” (Matt. 14:27). Peter (man, I love this guy), he doubts what Jesus is saying, and he says back to Jesus: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water,” (Matt. 14:28). So Peter gets out of the boat and walks to Jesus on the water. How awesome is that?! But then Peter gets distracted by the storm. He sees the waves and the wind and he becomes fearful again. In his distraction, he starts to sink, and he cries out “Lord, save me!!” (Matt. 14:30). To which Jesus reaches out his hand to help Peter.
This story serves as a reminder of the importance of keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus in difficult circumstances. Just like Peter, if we lose sight of the Lord, we will sink. In the hard times it is ever so important to cling to Jesus in prayer and in time spent in God’s Word. He is our hope, if we keep our eyes set on Him.
Maybe right now you are not walking through a challenging circumstance. That’s great!! Praise the Lord for that! At the end of this story, Peter and Jesus both climb back into the boat, and it says that “Those in the boat worshiped him (Jesus), saying ‘Truly you are the Son of God'” (Matt. 14:33). If you have already walked through a difficult circumstance, and you got to see the Lord’s hand in it, tell others about it! Praise the Lord for all that He has done, then share his faithfulness with others so that they can be encouraged!
The Lord has done great things, and He will continue to do so even in our hard situations. Let me know if I can be praying for you. At the top of this page, you will see a “Contact me” button. If you click on that, you will be able to send me any prayer requests. I would love to carry those burdens with you to the Lord. Beloved friends, be encouraged because you are so so loved <3