Stepping on the Water

Matthew 14:28-30 NLT
(28) Then Peter called to Him, "Lord, if it's really You, tell me to come to You, walking on the water."
(29) "Yes, come," Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.
(30) But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted.

How many times I’ve been in this situation with enough faith to step out on the unknown but then finding myself in trouble and calling to Jesus for help? If I can train my eyes to remain on where I want to go (Jesus) and not on the places I don’t want to go (fear) how much better my life would be. 

Those who know about riding motorcycles, as I do, know this unhealthy fear of looking at where you don’t want to go is called “target fixation” and it leads to trouble every time. Go to YouTube and type in the key words “motorcycle target fixation” and watch videos of crashes where for no apparent reason the rider just doesn’t make it out of trouble without serious injury to themselves and their bikes. It happens mostly in curves where the rider sees a tree or parked car on the outside of the curve that they don’t want to hit but do just that instead of simply leaning more to make it through the curve. In the same way we go through life looking at what causes fear instead of keeping our eyes on where we want to go! The Bible gives us another example where the Israelites were complaining about God’s provisions after bringing them out of Egypt, where they lived as slaves.

Numbers 21:4-8 NLT
(4) Then the people of Israel set out from Mount Hor, taking the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom. But the people grew impatient with the long journey,
(5) and they began to speak against God and Moses. "Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?" they complained. "There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!"
(6) So the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died.
(7) Then the people came to Moses and cried out, "We have sinned by speaking against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take away the snakes." So Moses prayed for the people.
(8) Then the LORD told him, "Make a replica of a poisonous snake and attach it to a pole. All who are bitten will live if they simply look at it!"

It was the act of looking away from their fears that saved them; to be obedient to God’s instructions, realizing they can’t do both ~ follow God’s leading and allow your heart to be filled with fear. A side note the Israelites being led out of bondage in Egypt and being brought to this place where they had to look at an image of a poisonous snake on a pole represents Jesus taking our ugly sin and being lifted up for all to see and if we allow our hearts to be set on Him we would be saved and the bondage of our sin would be broken. 

What happened to the Israelites and Peter and to every other person who learns what it means to follow their hearts in spite of the fear that surrounds them still happens today with us. So don’t become fixated on fear but step out of the boat in faith, not blind faith but a faith in the One Good Shepherd who leads His sheep and keep your eyes on Him. Jesus tells us this…

John 10:27 NLT
(27) My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.