Come!

We find recorded in St. Matthew 14 an account of Jesus constraining His disciples to get into a ship to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. They had just witnessed a notable miracle when Jesus multiplied a few fish and loaves of bread in order to feed over 5,000 people. The disciples must have felt on top of the world after such an experience, but they soon became less confident as they found themselves in the midst of a storm out in deep water.

This has always reminded me of the highs and lows that we go through as Christians. One moment we may be blessed and feeling strong in the Lord, and the next moment be frightened by circumstances that we don’t seem to have any control over. The “mountains” and “valleys” of life are something that we all experience; but through them all, Christ wants to teach us that He is the Master of all things.

When it began to grow late, Jesus came to them walking on the sea. At first, they were frightened at the sight of Him because they thought He was a ghost. After all, they had never seen nor heard of a person walking on water and naturally thought that only a spirit could accomplish such a thing. Jesus knew they were troubled and said to them, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” It is comforting to know that the Lord is with us during the storms of life, but we need to understand that He often engineers them for our instruction! He constrained these men into the ship to begin with, knowing that there was a lesson in the storm that they were going to encounter.

Life’s trials help to mold and melt us into the persons that God wants us to become. We don’t usually see them coming nor expect them when they happen; but looking backward, we can usually see the hand of the Father in what we’ve gone through. Surely, not every trial is from God; but for sure, everything works together for good to those who love Him.

Peter was the only one of the disciples who said to the Lord, “If it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water.” What was he thinking! Fact is, I don’t think he was. His sole motivation was to be with Jesus – the “walk on the water” was just something that stood between him and his Lord. That’s where I want to be in my spiritual journey: to consider miracles as simply stepping stones to walking with my Lord. Peter’s faith was focused squarely on Jesus, and he didn’t consider the storm or the miracle in his desire to get to Him. Jesus’ response was to say simply, “Come.” He always offers us this simple invitation when He recognizes that our desire is toward Him.

Peter was quick to jump out of the boat and walk toward Jesus. It was no big deal – until his eyes were distracted from Jesus and onto the waves that were rolling all around him. At this point, he began to sink into the water. Being frightened for his life, Peter cried out and said, “Lord, save me.” I’ve certainly been there before. God blesses me in some astonishing way, and then I see the storm that He’s bringing me through and get scared. When I begin to sink, I call out to the Lord, and He always reaches out His hand and encourages me yet again.

When we focus on either extreme in our lives - the severity of the storm, or the impossible-ness of the miracle that it will take to overcome it – we lose sight of the Lord Himself. Jesus must be our focus always. At another time, when His disciples came to Him rejoicing in the miracles that they had done in His name, Jesus told them, instead, to rejoice that their names were written in heaven. When we aim to honor Him alone, and all we want is to be where He is, He will extend the invitation to us to “Come.” Then we will find anything is possible with Him. Too many Christians spend their whole lives content to cower in the ship. Let us, however, be led by our love and devotion for our Lord and Savior to leave the ship and go out to where He is. Neither wind nor waves will be able to deter us – they will be merely the tool that helps to refine us. We will then find that miracles are possible when our eyes our fixed on Him alone!

And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. – Matthew 14:32, 33

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