Sometimes, we just need to stop, look, and listen. God speaks to us all the time. Do we listen and see? This study is centered on the passage from Matthew below. The theme is to focus on our Deliverer, not what we desire deliverance from.
This thought spurred me to draft this lesson mainly because we (or maybe it’s just me?) seem to have a lot of folks in our church, and in our extended church family, that are in need of deliverance from something.
Matthew 14:22-33 – This is a condensed example of faith and deliverance. Most of the things we need deliverance from are not this condensed in time. They seem to drag out and become painfully long. Would you agree?
The stormy, rough seas are clearly a test. Do you think Jesus made the sea to be rough that night? Do you think God makes our seas rough from time to time? I believe that God allows certain circumstances to enter our lives. At no time did He promise believers their lives would be free from trials. In fact, Jesus says the opposite (Matthew 5:43-45). Truly, believers experience the same difficulties as non-believers.
Why does God allow these storms? Why did Jesus not calm the seas from where he was on land? I’ll touch on these questions in a future study. However, if you are a child of God – saved by grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ – rest assured that nothing enters your life that has not been filtered through the Father’s loving hands.
Peter’s response is both miraculous and flawed. What is the miracle? The miracle is faith that allowed Peter to circumvent natural law and walk on the surface of the sea. What is the flaw? Peter’s flaw is the same as we experience today. Peter became distracted. Our distractions may not be as life threatening as what Peter faced (lightning, storms, rough seas, fear of drowning), but they are plentiful. Think about what takes your attention away from God every day.
When Peter stopped keeping his head up, focused on Jesus, he sank. Where the eyes are focused, the mind and body will follow. If you’ll allow me (well, duh, it’s my post, right?), I’ll give a personal example of what I mean. I ride (and sometimes race) off road motorcycles (woods riding through trees, over tree roots, and over and up rock faces). A key to success in this sport is to keep your head and eyes up and forward, scanning the obstacles ahead. If you focus on an obstacle (rock, root, tree), you will hit it. If you focus on where you want to be (a point through and past the obstacle), you and your motorcycle will follow. In short, keep your focus on where you want to be; spiritually speaking, on Jesus.
To conclude, keep your head up and focus on Jesus! I also leave you with a question to ponder. Do you think adults today have a shorter attention span than in years past? If so, why do you think that is? What distracts you from Jesus?
Peter exhibited for a very brief time a tremendous faith. Have you ever, even for a moment, had that much faith? If so, that’s exceptional. You have much to teach us all. If not, join the majority, and don’t be too hard on Peter. Remember, he’s the only one who got out of the boat!
Doug Reynolds teaches the Young Adults Sunday School class at Highland Park Baptist Church. Although the class calls itself ‘The Young Adults in Denial’ because most of the class is over the age of 40, it is a class where God’s word is learned through reading and open discussion. The class usually picks the topics and Doug creates a lesson for it. Doug has reformatted these lessons so the seeds of God’s word can now be cast even further.