August 7, 2011

Matthew 14:32, 33- The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!” (The Message Bible)
God works despite, and sometimes even through, our failures. It is as simple as that. The passage above concludes Matthew’s account of Peter walking on the water with Jesus. Peter got out of the boat, started out fine, but then saw what he was doing, and “he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!” Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?” (Matthew 14:30, 31 The Message Bible) So Peter blew it and made a fool of himself, just like we all have, and the result of the incident is that the other disciples come to a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and worship him. More than our failures we will regret the things in life we didn’t attempt. If we try to live a God-centered, Christ focused life we will no doubt fall short. But so what. God can handle and even redeem these failures. If you want to walk on water you have to get out of the boat (I didn’t make that up, but I think it works). What would it mean for you to live fearlessly for Christ this week?
Don