You know there have been many times through my life where I have fallen pretty bad. By my own hand or anothers. As each trial I experience happens later in my life I find myself being able to recover more quickly from them than the last. And in the story of Peter walking out on the water to Jesus it is finally clear to me why...
Our Pastor today said, "get so close to God that when your going down all it takes is God to reach out." As illustrated in Matthew 14:30-31,
"But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!" And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him,..."
There is a lot to be said about Peters attempt to walk out on the water. First he trusted and had courage and he had faith in God. He believed it was possible with God there ahead. And then we realize how far he had actually gotten and how close he came to Jesus. And when he took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink. But he had gotten close enough that all it took was Jesus to reach out and catch him.
Sometimes when I struggle with life's challenges I think about the problem rather than the fact that I am close to one who can catch me. I forget that I am much further out than before and that much closer. I didn't use to be that close. In fact, I came close to drowning so often because I refused to move closer. I always looked to God to swim out to save me. I was always distracted by my problems and overcome with fear as a result. And truth be told the more I looked at my problem, the bigger it got. And rather than take comfort in God or call out for Jesus to catch me, I would stand paralyzed.
Now there is great peace in knowing that I am that much closer. And all it takes now is a reach from Gods hand...
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