Wise Jumps of Faith

 ²⁸Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."

 ²⁹And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. - Matthew 14:28-29

We have all asked this question before an important decision. "Lord, if you are in this...would you let me know? Give me a sign?" I will be preaching in Solid Ground services next Sunday (8/23/09) and we are going to discover some principles for understanding God's leading. Thus, we will be better equipped to make wise jumps of faith.

In v.28 Peter said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." To be fair to Peter, I do not believe he wanted to show off. He mainly just wanted to be with Jesus. Notice his request was, “command me to come to You on the water,” rather than, “command me to come on the water to You.” That translation is faithful to the Greek word order. “On the water” was simply the only way to get to Jesus quickly.

Likewise, in John 21:7 we read that after the resurrection, Peter jumped out of the boat and swam to Jesus when he realized He was standing on the shore. Again, he just wanted to be with Jesus. In Matthew 14, it probably seemed to Peter that in the storm it is safer to be on the water with Jesus than in the boat without Jesus!  We should desire to be with Jesus. And in fact, the storms of life will often drive us closer to Jesus.

Oh the power of what faith can do when God gives us a promise we can rightly claim for ourselves! By faith the power of Jesus flowed unto Peter, and He was able to walk on water just like Jesus! As Peter was held up, so we shall be held up everywhere, and in any storm, as long as we set our confidence and faith upon Him.  So, how do we get the answers to the question, "Lord, if it is you?"

Simply ask.  Ask Jesus, "If this is you"...and wait for His answer.  His answers are found in Scripture, in Godly Counsel, in experience, and most important, in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Simply ask the Lord and if it is Jesus, He will call you out of the boat to join Him. Then we must be willing to jump out and walk on the water.

You know I love ya - Don