Walk on Water: Mission Impossible

“Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.  When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.  Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.'”                                      

Matthew 14: 22-33

Guess who’s back?! 😀

So, I haven’t written in a while; not because God hasn’t been speaking, He definitely has been.  I’ve just been SO busy in transition recently. Anyway, today’s devo is nothing new, but God just reminded me of this Word today and it was right on time for me, so I thought I’d share! I pray you’re encouraged too!

There are so many things I’ve got going on right now and so many more things that I wish were going on right now. I find myself struggling in this new season to get back to the place of contentment that God showed me was possible in my last season. I’m closer now than I have been in the last couple months, but Lord knows I’ve still got a ways to go until I get back to that peaceful place of Contentment in Christ. But as I struggle with contentment thinking about the things that I want in this season, but don’t visibly have yet God took me to this familiar story in Matthew. What I’m reminded of in reading this is that the impossible is possible at the Word of God!

Let me unpack that just a bit. Some of the things I’ve been wanting seem so far from my reach that they, at times, seem almost impossible. Sometimes I can’t see HOW God’s promises are going to come to fruition in my life and that scares me. Not doubting that He can do it, but driving myself crazy trying to figure out HOW He’ll do it; that’s my problem! When I let that fear and uncertainty set in, those things that God has promised and those things that I desire seem more and more impossible.

But, in this text, the plain and simple truth is that not only am I able to do the impossible at the Word of God; I’m CALLED, by the Word of God, to do the impossible! Watch the language. Peter says, “if it is you TELL me to come to you on the water.” and Jesus said, “Come.” The Word that Peter uses for “tell” me or “bid” me to come is keleuo (kuh-loo-oh). This word means to command or order. Peter literally says, “Jesus, if that’s you, then command me to walk to you on the water.” [paraphrase] I haven’t been to the beach, or a pool for that matter, in quite some time; but the last time I checked I was not able to walk on the water. Gravity pulled me down and my body mass displaced water until my feet reached bottom and I could walk THROUGH the water, but not ON the water. So what we find is that Peter is saying, “Jesus, if that’s you, then COMMAND me to do the IMPOSSIBLE.”  The disciples were scared just a moment ago when they saw Jesus walking on the water; so, what would give Peter the courage to ask Christ to command him to walk on the water just a second later?! Well, Peter knew that the impossible was possible because He was looking at it.  Jesus was walking on the water and Peter knew this was not possible; but because he saw Jesus do it, he had FAITH that Jesus could COMMAND him to do it. Peter had the faith to know that the WORD of Christ is the extension of Christ himself and if Christ could walk on water, then at Christ’s WORD, he could walk on water too!!!

By now you’re saying, “That’s nice, but how does that translate to me; I haven’t seen anyone with hair like lamb’s wool walking on water recently.”  Well, I’m glad you asked! Everyday you wake up you are viewing impossibility. What’s impossible about you and I waking up?! Only this: the law of sin states that “the wages of sin is DEATH.” Everyday that you and I wake up it ought to be with the clear knowledge that I sinned at some point yesterday which means, by law, I should be DEAD; but the impossibility of God’s unconditional love makes his impossible grace POSSIBLE! And, because HIS grace is present, everyday I wake up, I’ve been given the GIFT of God which is eternal life. And we’ve already established that eternal life doesn’t begin when we physically die, but when we die to self to follow Christ.

Everyday that you and I awaken, we are looking at impossibility at work; so we ought to have the courage to ask God to not just ALLOW us to do the impossible(that is, those ‘impossible’ things that we want, but God is not calling us to), but ask him to COMMAND us. You see, the word allow means to give permission to do something. Well, God gives us free will and He has since the beginning of time as we know it. Free will means God gives us permission to make our own choices. I don’t know about you, but when I’ve dabbled in God’s ALLOWANCE, I’ve made some BAD CHOICES. The worst part about making bad choices is not necessarily the consequences, but the uncertainty as I’m walking out this choice. “God, is this your will? I think this is right, but I don’t know. God, am I on the right path?” With every step you take down the ALLOWANCE path you’re questioning if it is right and how bad the consequences will be if it’s not right. But, when God TELLS you to do something; you may doubt your ability to do it (although you should NEVER doubt HIS ability to do it THRU you), but there’s no doubt that THIS is what God is calling you to do. The best part of knowing that you are within God’s will is the assurance that no matter what it looks like, because you are in God’s will, it will all work out according to His plan and in your favor! I’d rather step out on God’s COMMAND than his ALLOWANCE! How about you?

So, as I’ve already written a book; I can see that I’ll be writing some more from different angles on this text. That being said, be encouraged today and everyday knowing that if you have been awakened by the gentle hand of God, then you are viewing impossibility which means when God commands you to do something in that day that you think is truly impossible; like being patient and just waiting for and trusting HIS timing; YOU CAN DO IT! How do you know? Because You are looking impossibility in the face and God’s Word is the extension of himself. You are experiencing God’s IMPOSSIBLE LOVE today so when He TELLS you to be patient or to let go or to be of good courage or to have faith or to be CONTENT, you can do it, AT HIS WORD!

We have free will; I urge each of us (myself included) to choose to step out on God’s COMMAND, not his ALLOWANCE.

Bless God & God Bless,

THE Writer’s Pen, Angel

a.k.a.

Angelique

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