Nothing Is Impossible - A Reflection on Matthew 14:22-33

 


Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

We reflected on this passage just a few days ago (see Faith Killers: https://youtu.be/HvktJiIsmc8), but as I said then, it so overflows with lessons, there is really no shortage of things we can choose to reflect upon; it is just deciding WHAT to choose. Let us look at something that Peter says in today’s story. When he saw Jesus walking on the water, like the other apostles he too thought it was a ghost and felt afraid. Then, when the “ghost” said: “Take heart, it is I, Jesus, do not be afraid,” Peter was suddenly filled with this desire to do what Jesus was doing, and he said, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 

There are three things implicit in this single statement he makes, which offer some tremendous life lessons, especially for us today. Lesson one: make sure it is the Lord. Jesus has warned us several times to beware of counterfeit messiahs. In the last days, Jesus said, “if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:23-24). So, how can we recognize them? By their fruit, not by the miracles they work, and by the things they say. Please read Matthew 7:15-20 and Acts 17:11 to gain deeper understanding.  

Lesson two: make sure it is the Lord talking to you. There are, as you are probably aware, three spirits vying for our attention: the Holy Spirit, the evil spirit, and the human spirit. All three speak to us, and it can be hard at times to discern whose voice it is. The human spirit wants what it wants. And the evil spirit can do a pretty good job pretending to be holy; remember he was the angel of light (see 2 Corinthians 11:13-15). So, how do we tell the difference? A simple rule of thumb I use is asking myself if what the voice is telling me to do will bring me closer to God or not. An ancillary rule I apply is ensuring it doesn’t break any command in Scripture, which means I need to know it.

Lesson three: make sure the Lord commands you to do what you want to do. We may want to do many things, even good things for good purposes, but if isn’t what the Lord wants, we could be in for a rough time. There were a couple of times in the early days of my ministry when I enthusiastically jumped into things without checking it with God first. It was such a struggle, I determined never to do anything again without getting the go-ahead from God, and things have always worked out beautifully since.

And here is a bonus lesson: Make sure that God is with you, even if he gives you the go-ahead. In Exodus 33 — please read the entire chapter; it’s a short one — God tells Moses to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. After an extended conversation, “Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (Exodus 33:15). Moses goes on to say that the people needed to know that he came from God and that God’s favor rested upon him. Even though Peter was still apprenticing, he instinctively understood these truths. As he began to practice them in everything he did, he began to do the impossible.

If we keep these things in mind, we will make the impossible possible! 

Watch a video of this reflection by Aneel Aranha here: https://youtu.be/sSbjZ5wjT4A


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