Water-Walking Faith

Scriptures: Matthew 14:25-33, Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 10:8, Hebrews 11:1

WATER-WALKING FAITH 

Is there more to life? Am I called to more? Is this all there is? These are just a few of the big questions we ask ourselves as we journey through life. If I am honest, these are some of the questions that I have personally wrestled with over the years. I believe that often, the reason we find ourselves asking those kinds of questions is because the mundane parts of our day-to-day lives don’t align with the big and exciting dreams we have inside of us. 

Don’t get me wrong, the mundane moments are important (in fact, often greatness is built on consistency), but so often we get lost in the rhythms of life. We work the same job, eat the same meals, order the same coffee, and watch the same shows. Before we know it, life starts to feel a little … ordinary. 

The truth is: GOD HAS CREATED YOU FOR MORE.

God did not destine you to live an ordinary life. God has a plan for you. He has a purpose for you, not to harm you – but to give you a hope and a future. The bigness you see over your life, the breakthrough you are believing for, the purposes He has birthed on the inside of you, are not there by accident. They were placed there by God. 

The hard part is reconciling the gap between our dreams, and our reality. Where we are now, compared to where we want to be. The gap between the life I now live, and the life that God is calling me to. There is incredible destiny and promise that lies ahead of you, but it is found on the other side of your FAITH. 

I love the story of Peter walking on water. The idea that God could take an ordinary man, with an ordinary job, from an ordinary place and do the miraculous with him, grabs our attention. The truth is, most Christians have read it, most preachers have preached it, yet most believers haven’t lived it. 

This is the kind of ‘faith life’ God has called us to live. A faith that steps out of our comfort zones and into the unknown. A faith that defies human understanding and steps into the realm of the impossible. A faith that takes us beyond ourselves and draws us closer to Jesus. I am talking about WATER-WALKING FAITH. 

So what is faith? Hebrews 11 reminds us that faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. It is having a confidence that God can provide in every circumstance. It is an assurance that God will never fail us, that God will never leave us and that God will never forsake us. Even if we cannot see the end result, or even see a way out, faith knows that God can and will provide. 

The unfortunate reality is that many believers live an average Christian life. They go to church, they sing the songs, they give their offering, but their lives don’t look any different to anyone else. Like the other disciples left in the boat, some believers suffer from a life gripped by fear or choose a life guided by comfort, and so often miss out on the incredible destiny that awaits them on the water. 

In fact, having water-walking faith doesn’t make you more ‘saved’ than any other believer, but it changes your experience with Jesus. I don’t know about you, but I want to live my life to its fullest faith potential. I want to see the plans, the purposes, and the promises that God has in store for me. The reality is that you won’t find them on the boat, you find them on the water. 

What if seeing people physically healed right before your eyes became a regular occurrence in your week? What if sharing your testimony with your friends and colleagues become a consistent part of your life? What if laying hands on and praying for others became an addition to your daily routine? What if seeing people set free from depression and anxiety became your new normal? This is exactly what Jesus instructed His disciples to do, and this is exactly the kind of ‘water-walking’ life God has called you and I to live. 

As you begin this devotional, ask yourself, do I really want to live a mediocre, mundane, and average Christian life? Or has God called me to live a life of mountain-moving, ground-taking, water-walking faith? Today, I want to call you out of the boat. Out of your comfort zone. And into a space where the only option is to trust God with your next step. Today I want to invite you on a wild and exciting journey that will change your life forever. Today I am calling out the WATER-WALKERS. 

QUESTIONS:

1.What are some of the big dreams that God has put in your life? Write them down. 

2.In what areas of my life do I need to step out in faith this year?

Scriptures: Matthew 14:27-28, Romans 8:9-11

WATER-WALKERS PIONEER

As someone who has grown up in church my whole life, I have heard the ‘water-walking story’ of Peter hundreds of times. In fact, as someone who is now leading a church today, I have preached this exact story many times from our pulpit. Every time I read this story, I had always assumed that Jesus had called Peter out on the water. But I want you to take a moment and re-read the text. Look a little deeper and discover what is really going on. 

Did Jesus ask Peter to walk on water? Or did Peter come up with this idea himself? As you read the text, you may be surprised to discover that Peter was the one who started the whole thing. Now of course Jesus says to Peter, ‘Come’ and so there was a clear call to action from Jesus which we will get into over the next few days. But I want you to take note of who came up with the idea. 

Peter asks “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water”. This ridiculous request pioneered one of the greatest faith moments in history. This was Peter’s appeal. This was Peter’s idea. This was Peter’s initiative. Why is this important? Because often we think we need to wait for God, but often GOD IS WAITING FOR YOU. 

God is waiting on us to dream, to believe, to pray, to ask, to try, to step out, to have faith. Today I want you to understand – GOD IS WAITING ON YOU. 

I believe that God has called us to live life on ‘green’. That means to live in a way where my default response to God’s calling is ‘YES’. If it’s already in His Word – then it’s a ‘Yes’ for me. Don’t get me wrong, there are definitely times where God might indicate a ‘red’ or an ‘orange’ light in my spirit. Of course, there are moments where the answer is either ‘no’ or ‘wait’. The key is learning to hear God for yourself and trust Him with the rest. 

How many times have we heard a whisper from God or felt in our spirit to go and speak to someone, encourage someone, help someone, or pray for someone, but our default response has been ‘no’? We didn’t want to get embarrassed, we didn’t want to fail or be rejected. How many times have you felt God lead you to serve, step up, step out, give, or even lead – and you chose not too because of fear or doubt? This is because generally our spirit has been tuned to live on ’red’. We condition ourselves to fear and doubt because we prefer the comfort of our boats rather than the calling of the waves. 

When we live on ‘red’ every step becomes cautious and riddled with fear. But when you live on ‘green’ you have no choice but to trust God and lean into the Spirit. So instead of trying to find all the reasons to say ‘no’ to God, I am trying to find any reason to give Him my ‘yes’. 

Peter didn’t wait for an instruction; he initiated an encounter. 

Water-walkers Pioneer. Their default is ‘yes’. They get it started. They kick things off. They aren’t sitting around waiting for an opportunity, they step out and take on whatever is in front of them. This goes against our nature because often we wait for everything to be right. We want to be at the right place, at the right time, with the right people – but God doesn’t work that way. God is not looking for perfection, He is looking for pioneers. People who are willing to say, ‘I don’t know how this is going to work out, but if God’s in it – ANYTHING is possible’. 

God’s presence is an invitation into possibility. Everywhere that Jesus went, everywhere that He turned up, there was a sense that anything could happen. Sickness could be healed. Blind eyes could be opened. The possessed could be freed. Dead things could come to life. The impossible becomes possible with Jesus. Now that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us – what’s our excuse? 

Things might seem impossible right now, but we know that in Jesus – ALL THINGS are possible. The time has come for the water-walkers to rise up. It’s time to pioneer into the waters of the impossible.

QUESTIONS:

1.Can you recall moments in your life where you felt God speak but you didn’t act? Meditate on why. 

2.What do you believe God is calling you to pioneer?

Scriptures: Matthew 14:28-29, Philippians 4:6-7, Romans 10:17

WATER-WALKERS HEAR

Today, I believe that we are going to unpack the most important and critical moment of the entire water-walking story. Yes, Peter pioneers the encounter, but there are a lot of people who start things and never see them through to completion. Yes, Peter steps out of the boat, but there are a lot of people out there who have taken big risks and ended up underwater. Why is this moment the key? Because there is nothing more important than a Word from God.

Any significant moment in my life has been anchored in a word from God. Any important decision I have ever made has been rooted in a word from God. It is a word from God that can bring peace into chaos, it is a word from God that can calm any storm, and it is a word from God that can raise dead things to life. In fact, it was a word from God that spoke the entire universe into being. There is power in the WORD of God.

I don’t believe that Peter stood on the water, I believe that he stood on a WORD.

I guess that might sound crazy, but so does walking on water. Maybe it is more feasible to conclude that Peter didn’t defy the laws of physics with some special hi-tech sandals. Rather, there was a divine moment that took place out on the sea of Galilee that night, and a supernatural God spoke a supernatural word that created a supernatural moment.

So, before we unpack the hearing part (which is our responsibility), let’s try to understand God’s ‘Word’. In the bible there are two primary Greek words used to describe the word of God. Logos and Rhema. The Greek word ‘logos’ translates to the WORD of God, whereas the Greek word ‘rhema’ translates to the SPOKEN word of God. This essentially means that there is the written and recorded word of God (logos), but there is also the current and constant spoken word of God (rhema). We use the scripture (the logos word of God) as a guide, as a basis, as a framework and as an anchor for our lives – but it’s also equally important to understand that God was speaking to people throughout the bible and so I believe with all my heart that He still speaks today.

So, the question is not whether God speaks or not, the question is do we listen?

One of the most important things you will ever learn in your entire life as a believer is how to hear the voice of God. The most important part of this is our position. I am not talking about sitting or standing, I am talking about positioning yourself to hear from God. More often than not, if we are not hearing from God, it might be because we haven’t been allowing ourselves to listen. We might get so busy with life that we don’t give God any margin to speak to us. For others of us, we fill every gap with noise. We scroll through Facebook or Instagram with every spare moment we have. We fill every little space with news and opinions and, before we know it, we have grown deaf to the sound of God, because the primary sound of our lives is from the world.

The WORD of God is our daily bread. It is not a cheat meal that we binge on once a week. It needs to be the main sound, the lead singer, and the primary voice of our lives. For some of us, the first thing you need to do in your life is to plug into God and get a word from heaven for your life.

For me personally, there was a stage in my life where Katie (my wife) and I were desperately looking to God for answers. We were serving wholeheartedly in our local church in Sydney, however we felt like God had put a church in us, we just didn’t know where and when. Initially when we prayed, we felt God say ‘wait’ and then for the next 5 YEARS, it felt like we heard nothing. Despite our prayers, despite our requests, and despite our petition – silence. This was so hard because during this time there were plenty of opportunities that presented themselves and sounded really good on paper and made so much sense in the natural. But none of these opportunities ever sat right with our spirit. I remember talking to a friend of mine who has also been a pillar of wisdom in our lives. He simply asked me – “Are these GOOD options or are these GOD options?”. This question changed my life forever.

This is the key. DON’T GO FOR A GOOD WORD. GO FOR THE GOD WORD. There is a BIG difference between good and God. Don’t get me wrong, God is good, but not everything good is God. I have seen too many people go for what looks good or what feels good and miss out on a promise because it wasn’t God. They were either too impatient, too impulsive, or too immature and they ended up settling for what’s next, not for what’s best.

So how do we know it’s God? For some of us, God’s voice may not be a loud audible voice that splits the clouds and shakes the foundations of your house. For me, it has never been anything like that at all. Generally, it begins as a feeling, an inkling, a prompting, or a sense. I will generally sit on that sense for several days, weeks, months (and in one or two cases, years) and the way I feel confirmation that it is a word from heaven is the most important word you will hear today – and that is PEACE.

I have found in my life, wherever there is peace, there is God’s presence.

It is the peace of God that confirms His word. It’s the peace of God that transcends all understanding. It’s the peace of God that provides calm in the storm. It’s the peace of God that bring clarity to what is cloudy. It’s the peace of God that provides the quiet amidst the noise.

There is nothing like the peace of God. Do you have peace about that relationship? Do you have peace about a boyfriend or girlfriend? Do you have peace about that job? Do you have peace about that decision? Whatever you do today, learn to follow PEACE.

Romans 10 reminds us that faith comes by HEARING, and hearing by the Word of God. So before we step out in water-walking faith we need to lean in, to HEAR His voice. Peter wasn’t LOOKING for a strategy, he was LISTENING for a voice. Today I want to encourage you to stop looking and start listening – because where His voice is, is where He is. And where He is, is the faith to walk on water.

QUESTIONS:

1.Have I ever heard the voice or leading of God? If not, why not? If so, what was that like?

2.What do I need to do to position myself to hear from God more regularly?

Scriptures: Matthew 14:29, James 2:14-26, James 1:22-25

WATER-WALKERS DO

The stage is set. Peter has made his radical request. Jesus has called him out of the boat. Will he sink? Or will he swim (or stand in this case)? The ball is now in his court, and Peter is left with a choice. Do I step back? Or do I step out? His mind would have been racing, his heart would have been pounding. He climbs up onto the ledge of the boat, and slowly raises one foot over the water. His weight shifts from the boat to the sea and as he catches his breath, he realizes – he is walking on water.

Peter had everything he needed; the idea, the intent, the instruction, and the invitation – all that was left was an action. He had to take the step and get out of the boat. Jesus had done His part; it was now up to Peter to DO his. It’s important to understand that we too can have everything we need, but until we are willing to step out, until we are willing to take the risk, until we are willing to do something about it, nothing will ever happen.

In Mark chapter 4, Jesus is teaching on the Parable of the Sower. After explaining the parable to His disciples, Jesus says something that is so fundamental to our faith. “He who has ears, let him hear”. This word in the original Hebrew is the word ‘Shema’. Why is this important? Because this word translates to ‘hear AND obey’. In fact, there is no word in the Hebrew language that just means ‘hear’ alone. To truly hear, means to obey. What I am trying to say is that you can’t HEAR and not DO. Real faith is about hearing the Word and then DOING what it asks. Living it out. Seeing it through. And being obedient to what has been said.

So often, we don’t see the promise, because we aren’t willing to step out and DO what God is calling us to do. Conviction is great, but without action it is pointless. Revelation is powerful but without action it is empty. James 2 reminds us that faith without deeds is DEAD. That is because we can talk about faith, pray about faith, and even sing about faith, but until we DO something, until we step out, until we take the risk, nothing changes.

The reason why we find it so hard, is because we might be too scared to let go of what we know. We have been conditioned for comfort, so we prefer to stick to our plan, stay in our comfort zone and play everything safe. But we will never discover the ‘God call’ on our lives until we step into the unknown.

Several years ago, I was on a beach holiday with my family on the Central Coast of New South Wales. The sun was out, the water was glistening, so my dad decided to hire a boat and head out onto the water for lunch. The first hour of our boat adventure was filled with laughter, joy, and sarcastic impersonations of my mum, until the journey came to an abrupt halt – literally. We had been so lost in our conversation, that we had wandered off the guided path, and had landed ourselves onto a sandbank. We were stuck, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by water, out of mobile phone reception, with a motor that didn’t work. This was not good.

The only option was to jump out of the boat, lift it out of the sand, and see if we could get the motor working again. After a quick family planning meeting it was determined that my dad (the one who got us in this mess in the first place) was going to have to be the one to push us out of it. As he pushed the boat out of the sand, the engine began to start, and the boat started to slowly move forward. We were finally unstuck, but a new issue had arisen – my dad was not in the boat. We tried several times to pull him in, however the speed made it almost impossible to get him back in. By this stage, the boat was cruising around at free will and my father was clinging on to the side of the boat for dear life hoping not to fall into the water.

After going around in circles several times, I realized that we were still over the sandbank. If my dad had LET GO of the boat, he would have easily been able to stand in the water, and eventually get back in the boat. The reality was that the fear of not being able to stand caused him to grip to the boat even tighter. 

Here is the lesson I learnt that day. YOU WILL NEVER KNOW IF YOU CAN STAND, UNTIL YOU LET GO OF WHAT YOU KNOW.

The boat represents comfort, safety, and security. It represents what we know; what is comfortable. Yet God has not called us to live IN the boat, He often calls us OUT of the boat, into the uncomfortable, the uneasy and the unknown. It’s only when we choose to LET GO and STEP OUT that we begin to stand on the promises that God has for us out on the water.

We can hear the word. WE can hear the call – but WE need to take the step. The book of James reminds us to be DOERS of the word. Not just hearers. Not just spectators. But doers. And that’s the difference, water-walkers don’t talk – THEY WALK. Today I want to remind you that the ball is in your court. It’s time to let go and step off the boat.

QUESTIONS:

1.What are the things that keep you comfortable? Are there things in your life that are hard to let go of?

2.What do you believe is the next risk-taking faith step that God is leading you to take?

Scriptures: Matthew 14:30, Hebrews 12:1-3

WATER-WALKERS FOCUS

The world we live in today is full of noise. Opinions fly around recklessly on social media. News and media outlets mass-produce biased stories that broadcast live around the world in a constant stream of content. Whether it’s the music industry, entertainment, the education system, or even our own families, we are constantly bombarded with an overload of information.

Humanity has grown accustomed to consuming copious amounts of content on a daily basis. With a touch of a button or a swipe of a screen we can hear new songs, read new books, listen to new podcasts, watch new shows, and follow new influencers at any given moment. We have been tuned to consume content and multi-task at high levels whether in our professional or personal lives. Technology has unquestionably changed the world, but it has also made it ‘louder’.

So, in a world that is constantly fighting for your attention, what has your focus?

It’s very hard in the information age to stay focused on anything, let alone God. However, the story of Peter highlights the importance of focus in our lives. The bible says that Peter got down out of the boat, walked on water, and came toward Jesus. But as soon as he SAW the wind, he became afraid and began to sink.

Hang on a second. I thought that Peter began to sink because of little faith? Yes, that’s true and we will pick up on that in verse 31. But it’s important to understand that OUR LACK OF FOCUS LEADS TO LITTLE FAITH. The moment his eyes wandered away from Jesus and onto the waves was the moment he began to sink. In the same way, the moment our eyes begin to wander away from Jesus and onto our problems, away from Jesus and onto our frustrations, away from Jesus and onto our disappointments – that is the moment we begin to sink.

The truth is whatever has your FOCUS has your FAITH. When our focus is Jesus, then our faith becomes solid. It becomes unchanging, it becomes strong, and it becomes immovable. Because that is who Jesus is. But when our focus is the wind, our faith becomes fleeting. There one moment, gone the next. Because that is exactly what wind is.

Not only does this story highlight the importance of focus, but it also highlights the power of distraction. Peter had a clear calling, he was on a clear path, and was moving in a clear direction yet the moment that everything changes, was the moment that he shifted his eyes from his Savior to the storm.

If we are honest with ourselves, like Peter, we too can be so easily distracted. We can get so focused on our work, our careers, our promotions, and our salaries. We can get excessively caught up with our emotional state, our physical bodies, and our mental health. We can become overly anxious about our relationships, our marriages, our singleness, or even our family dynamics. Although all these things (amongst many other things) are important and have a place in our life, they should never be the things that distract us from our primary goal, our overriding objective, and our first focus – JESUS.

My 4-year-old son Zion is a picture of ‘distraction’ at the best of times. Have you ever tried to get a child’s attention in the middle of them watching their favourite TV show or playing a video game? It starts off with multiple verbal attempts of getting their attention. Before you know it, you have grabbed the remote, turned the TV off, and you’re sitting right in front of them to physically block any view of the screen just to get a little eye contact. THEN – they have the nerve to peer over your shoulder just to check the blank screen you just switched off. This picture of distraction is a picture of believers today. Jesus is right in front of you. He is speaking to you. He is trying to get your attention. But we are too distracted with our own lives, our own plans, our own goals, and our own agendas – that we can’t see Him. So lost in our own feelings and our own thoughts to take a moment to hear from Him. So distracted with the challenges of life and the desires of our own heart to notice Him.

The truth is GOD DOESN’T WANT YOUR STUFF. HE WANTS YOU.

Hebrews 12 reminds us that as followers of Jesus we are to fix our eyes on Him. Not peer over when its suitable. Not to glance when we have the chance. But to FIX our eyes on Him. Not looking to the left or the right, but to have our full focus on Jesus. But this can only be achieved when we find a way to turn the volume down on the world and turn the volume up on His voice.

I have found in my own life that ‘walking on water’ (or stepping out in faith) is less about WHAT you’re standing on, and more about WHO you are looking to. Our destiny may be found ‘on’ the water, but really it is found ‘IN’ Jesus. He is the one who holds our future, and as we keep our eyes fixed on Him, He leads us through unknown waters.

I want to encourage someone today who is in the middle of the battle to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. In the middle of the sickness to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. In the middle of the trial, to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. In the middle of the relationship breakdown, to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. WHATEVER you are in the middle of today, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.

QUESTIONS:

1.Write a list of the top 10 things you spend the most time on in your life. Write another list of the top 10 priorities in your life. Compare your lists. Do you invest time into the things you value, or are there some changes or adjustments you need to make in your life?

2.Are there things in your life that have become distractions or higher priorities than God in your life? What can you do to change them?

Scriptures: Matthew 14:31, Proverbs 3:5-6

WATER-WALKERS TRUST

Trust is a powerful thing.

People will jump out of planes attached to a person they have never met, purely because of trust. People will jump into a vehicle with a stranger because they trust the Uber sticker on the windscreen. People will step inside a metal cylinder and fly from one country to another country and never meet the pilot once, all because of trust.

In fact, you probably never checked the seat you are sitting on right now. You just sat on it ‘trusting’ it would hold you up. You probably never checked who your train driver was this morning. You just ‘trusted’ that they would get you to your destination. Why is it then, that we sometimes find it so hard to trust God?

At this stage of the story, Peter has gotten out of the boat and, with faith, is walking on water. After being distracted by the wind and the waves however, the bible says that he began to sink and cried out to Jesus for help. As soon as he cries out for help, Jesus IMMEDIATELY catches him right where he was.

IMMEDIATELY. According to Google, this word means ‘without any intervening time or space’. So, Jesus STEPS IN and doesn’t waste any time or any space. The moment that things look bad, the moment that things look like they are over, Jesus steps in. I mean, just for your own sake, you can go ahead and give God some praise for being the God who steps IN to your circumstance, steps IN to your situation, and steps IN to your trials. He is the God who will never leave you, or forsake you. He doesn’t let you face your problems on your own. Not only is He near you, not only is He for you, He is IN the midst of the battle with you.

This word ‘immediately’ is an interesting one because whenever I picture Jesus on the water, I always imagined Him to be so far away. The bible points out in verse 26 that the disciples believed it was a ghost on the water. Obviously, they were far enough from Jesus to not recognise His voice or His face. The interesting thing is that He was close enough to Peter to catch Him as soon as he began to sink.

This tells us something very important, that either Peter had the faith to walk a fair distance on the water, or that Jesus was close enough to catch him. The bible doesn’t give us the details, all we know is that Jesus was close. And that is a revelation we need to understand. JESUS IS CLOSE.

For someone who is reading this and feeling lonely, Jesus is closer than you know. For someone who is feeling abandoned, Jesus is closer than you know. For someone who is feeling lost and distant, JESUS IS CLOSER THAN YOU KNOW. And because He is close, it means we can trust Him. In every season, in every situation, on every mountain and in every valley. Jesus is with you.

This is why my faith is not in my ability to walk on water. My faith is in Jesus’ ability to catch me when I fall.

In my own strength I have nothing. I can’t save myself. I can’t change myself. I can’t transform myself. I need Jesus. The truth is WE all need Jesus. I want to remind you today that you can trust Him. Maybe you have been hurt by someone that was close to you. A friend, a family member, a teacher, a leader, a boyfriend, or a girlfriend. And it has caused you to be cautious with your trust. So, when God asks you to step out of the boat and get uncomfortable, we can easily remember our hurt, our pain, and even our past. We can then come up with thousands of reasons as to why we can’t step out. But the truth is, our job is not to find reasons, our job is to find God.

The one thing more important than our problems, is our proximity. Peter was saved because he was close to Jesus. He was within catching range. This picture reminds me of how important it is to stay close to God. So when the waves of life, and the winds of pain begin to batter us, we can hold onto our firm foundation – JESUS.

I have found that the closer I am to Jesus, the more clarity I have, the more perspective I have, the more grace I have, and the more peace I have. My goal is to stay as close as I can to Him. To lean into Him. To draw close to Him. To go where He goes. To listen out for His voice. And as long as I am close to Him, I have everything that I need.

You might find the faith to walk on water, but the key to ‘staying’ on the water is trust. Trusting that God has your life. Trusting that He holds it all together in His hands. You may not know how it’s going to end up, you may not know how you are going to get through whatever you are facing. You may not know how this is going to finish, but all I know is that you can trust Him. And if we can trust Him with our beginning, we can trust Him with the end. He is author, He is the finisher, and He holds everything in between.

It’s time to shift your trust away from your own abilities, your own gifts and your own capacity and put your trust in Jesus. It’s not by our might, or by our strength – but by HIS Spirit. The only way we can step out of the boat, and into the miraculous life that God has destined us for, is to trust in Him. He is faithful. He is able.And he will catch you when you fall.

QUESTIONS:

1.What are some of the things in your life that stop or limit your trust in God?

2.Take a moment to reflect on your own life and what God has saved you from. What are some reasons you can think of that remind you that you can trust in God?

Scriptures: Matthew 14:31, Matthew 14:13-21, Matthew 17:20

WATER-WALKERS ENDURE

One of the most interesting things in this entire story is the reason that Jesus gives to explain why Peter began to sink: “You of little faith”. Really? Little faith? Out of all things to label Peter. Erratic? Yes. Emotional? For sure. But little faith? I am not sure I would have seen it the same way.

Any of the disciples who remained in the boat could have been said to have little faith. I mean Judas was out there on the boat. Surely, he had little faith. Peter at least got out of the boat. Peter took a risk. Peter stepped out of his comfort zone, and did something that was never done before. Is that really little faith?

However, Jesus here was not being harsh or dismissive. If we have a bit of a closer look at the context to this story we might start to have a clearer understanding of what is really going on.

Earlier in Matthew 14, there is an incredible story that takes place. Jesus is out with His disciples teaching the multitudes and healing the sick. As the day began to come to an end, Jesus decided to feed the people that were there to listen to Him. Now this was not a small little snack. The bible notes that there are approximately 5000 men there, not including women and children. Most scholars suggest that the number of people would have likely come to approximately 15,000 people that day. So, the disciples gather whatever food they could find, and out of such a large crowd, they were able to gather an astronomical 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. The disciples embarrassingly hand over the food to Jesus who thanks God, breaks the bread, and begins to distribute it out to the people. Miraculously the food begins to multiply and every person that is there is fed, with 12 basketfuls of food left over. What an amazing miracle.

Now, it would be fair to say that if you were there and witnessed this miracle, it would change your life forever. You could never doubt that Jesus was the son of God. You would have such a strong confidence in Jesus’ power to heal, to provide and to save. You would surely believe that nothing was too hard for God.

Well, not Peter. Within 24 hours of witnessing this life-changing miracle, Peter was sinking in the water.

The disciples had witnessed this miracle first-hand. They had seen the bread multiply. They had seen the fish multiply. Not only had they seen it, but they had also eaten it. They didn’t just watch the miracle, they experienced it for themselves. Yet straight after this moment, we find them gripped with fear, lacking in trust, and hiding in a boat, ON THE SAME DAY.

Here is the truth you need to catch from this story. When Jesus says “you of little faith”.

He was not talking about the SIZE of his faith. He was talking about the STAMINA of his faith.

When you study this word ‘little’, the original Aramaic word that is used is the word ‘Zeora’. This can translate to the word ‘little’, but the word really has its meaning in the idea of someone who is young and inexperienced.It is generally used for an apprentice who has not yet mastered a certain skill. Essentially Jesus is saying to Peter that his faith is young, inexperienced, and not fully matured or developed.

Jesus’ comments had nothing to do with LITTLE faith, and everything to do with LASTING faith.

Matthew 17 reminds us that if we are to have faith the size of a mustard seed, we can move mountains. So the size of the faith is not what matters, but rather it’s stamina. It’s the ability for our faith to last. It’s the ability of our faith to push through. It’s the ability of our faith to ENDURE.

Jesus wanted Peter to understand that if He could do a miracle for the 5000, surely, He could do a miracle for Peter. And that is what we need to understand today. If God did it for them, He can do it for you. If he provided for them, He can provide for you. Enduring faith trusts in God, enduring faith doesn’t disappear when times are hard, enduring faith doesn’t dissolve when the wind and waves come. Enduring faith keeps believing, from miracle to miracle, season to season, and everything in between.

And that is what water-walking faith is. It is faith that endures. Faith in-between the miracles. Faith for the middle. Faith when there is no answer. Faith when there is no hope. God is looking for a faith that will last. Not a faith built on hype or built on a moment. Not a faith that is fleeting. But a faith that builds daily. A faith that has deep roots. A faith that starts small, but a faith that grows, a faith that matures and a faith that lasts.

Whatever the circumstance is, we have faith. Whatever the season we are in, we have faith. Whatever the storm we are going through, we have faith.

God is calling you out of the boat, and into the water. Out of the familiar and into the unknown. As you step out into the promises that God has for you remember that water-walkers PIONEER, HEAR, DO, FOCUS, TRUST, and ENDURE.

I believe that God is calling His people out. The gauntlet has been laid. Are we really about this life? Are we really living as one called? Are we truly wanting to step out in water-walking faith? I believe if the church of today could get this, it would change the world. Today is not the day for mediocre, mundane, or average faith. God is raising a generation of people with mountain-moving, storm-calming, seas-splitting, ground-taking, body-raising, WATER-WALKING FAITH.

QUESTIONS:

1.Has your faith ever been knocked around or discouraged? How did you respond?

2.What is my next step in my water walking faith journey? What can I do to take this step?