Walking on the Water

Lately the Lord seems to be reminding me to trust in Him, to recognize His Sovereignty, to be at peace with where He will take me.  That's a little scary and makes me wonder what's going to happen. Some big changes are possible for me in the near future and I don't know if the Lord is preparing my heart to trust through those changes OR if the possibility of those changes has been used as a gentle reminder that it's about keeping my eyes on Him and not my circumstances. It doesn't really matter, the message is still the same.

I temporarily lost my study Bible this week and had to read from my chronological Bible one morning for devotions.  That's was a little frustrating since it's organized by days of the year instead of books of the Bible, but as I opened it up on Friday morning, I thought, "The Lord probably has Matthew 14 on today's date!" I thought this because earlier in the week someone used that passage to encourage me re: the possible changes and I bristled a little when it was shared. Of course, right in the middle of day's reading was, you guessed it, Matthew 14. It made me chuckle.

The passage is a familiar one with Jesus walking on the water and Peter stepping out to walk with Him. He doesn't succeed for very long, but gets distracted by the circumstances, the wind and the waves, and he takes his eyes off Jesus. Down he goes, right!  The Holy Spirit wasn't being too subtle this week; I got the message. However, despite the usual reminder we get from that passage - to keep our eyes on the Lord - He also gave me one more nugget, which has been immensely encouraging.

The disciples see a figure walking on the water. They think it's a ghost at first, but then the Lord identifies Himself and says, "Don't be afraid!" What does Peter do next? He asks for confirmation (Is that you, Lord?) and then He asks to join the Lord ("command me to come to You on the water.") 

Why on earth, Peter, do you want to walk on the water?

Stay in the safety of the boat, Dude!

No. More than anything else, Peter wanted to be with Christ, no matter where that was.

It makes me think of Matt Redman's line from Better Is One Day,

"Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere."

Do we really feel that way about walking with the Lord? Are we willing to walk anywhere? Through any circumstances? The wind and the waves are always going to be there in one way or another, but where Christ is, there is safety, shelter, and perfect peace. Each day, each hour, we have a choice to abide with Christ or to drown in our circumstances. I'm practicing the choice to abide.