Entering a season of change is scary and there is nothing quite like it. It’s messy, painful, terrifying, and every emotion in between. For me personally, my season of change is college, and let me tell you, I’m scared. The hardest part about entering a season of change is being able to fully trust in God’s plan for us. Many times, change brings doubt, and doubt brings in fear. However, God calls us along a different mindset: a mindset of peace and security that can only be found in Him and through Him. A story in the bible that reveals to us a lesson about trusting God in the doubt is when Peter is called out upon the water in the book of Matthew.
Matthew 14:22-23 begins with the disciples on a boat in the middle of a rough storm. The disciples had been on the boat all night, in the middle of the storm that “thrashed” and “battered” their boat. After hours of being on the water, they see Jesus in the distance, but fear that He is a ghost in their sight. Suddenly, they hear Jesus say to them, “Take Courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Once Christ approaches them, Peter calls out to Jesus telling Him to call him onto the water. Jesus tells Peter to come to him, but once Peter is on the rough water he begins to sink and shouts “Lord, save me!” However, Jesus reaches out his hand to Peter and replies to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
This passage teaches us three major things in seasons of doubt:
1. Jesus reveals his sovereignty in the midst of uncertainty and doubt.
To me personally, I think one of the main messages of this passage is that Jesus reveals his sovereignty and power in the midst of uncertainty and doubt. Without the storm, the disciples would have never been able to see the miracle Jesus performed on Peter. Without the storm, Peter walking upon water would have not been as great of a feat. Just like Peter, it takes us, as Christians, many times to walk amidst a storm in order to fully watch God take reign over us. Without our storms and hardships, we would not be able to see the work only the Savior Jesus Christ can perform. Our roughest storms many times reveal our greatest hope.
2. If we don’t trust in Him, we will ultimately fail.
Once Peter steps out onto the water, he immediately begins to doubt. However, Jesus promises Him he is there when stating “Don’t be afraid.” Ultimately, Jesus never caused Peter to sink. Peter, because of his own doubt, began to sink. If he had fully trusted in what Jesus promised him, then he would have stayed afloat. Because of this, it teaches us as Christians that doubting God ultimately fails us. If we aren’t fully trusting in God, then we will be halted. It is easy to doubt and to question and to not know where the Lord is leading us, but in the end His plan is much, much greater than our own. We are called to trust and Jesus will eventually reach out His hand to us while saying, “Do not be afraid.”
3. In seasons of doubt we must run to Jesus.
In this passage there is obviously a great storm. However, Peter asks God to call him out upon the water. You see, Peter could have easily stayed in the “safety” of the boat. This boat was what he was comfortable with, and had been on for the past few hours during the storm. However, Peter wants to reach Jesus so he asks Jesus to help him cross the water. This act of bravery Peter showed reveals to us as Christians that we must reach out to God in times of doubt. Rather than staying within our own man-made boundaries, we must find Jesus and run to Him. It may be hard, and it may be scary, but it is what Jesus desires and calls us to do.
In the end, Jesus will call us out onto the water. It may be starting somewhere new, losing a loved one, or a faltering of our faith. Either way, we will have to walk upon the water at some point in our life whether we choose to or not. However, we do get to choose whether we fully trust in the Lord or call out to Him, “Lord, save me!”
Comments