Jesus was standing on the water while Peter and the disciples were in the boat. Jesus called to Peter to get out of the boat and come walking on the water to Him. Imagine if Peter's response was, "Lord, that's a very nice offer, but if I get out of this boat, it's a very lonely, scary place between where my friends are and where you are. So, no thanks." Or maybe He didn't realize that lonely place till he actually stepped out and then found himself in that chasm of loneliness where he had no friends to directly lean on and found himself in impossible circumstances without an undistracted view of Jesus. The winds picked up and the waves came into view....
Have you been in that place? ...with one of those responses?
Currently, I'm relating to the second scenario. I can see my friends nearby, but God has me in such a place that I can't lean on them for security and yet the winds are blowing and the waves keep distracting me from fixing my eyes on Jesus..."the author and perfecter of my faith" (Hebrews 12.2). In that place is the chasm of loneliness. Put yourself there just for a minute. You can't reach your friends in ways that would really help you feel secure, and you can't seem to find the hand of Jesus extended out to take yours because you're not looking for it--you're not set on finding it...instead your eyes are filled with the mist from the wind over the water and you see the waves about the engulf you...and you quickly realize that what you're trying to accomplish is impossible.
But He knows His plans for me, plans for good (Jeremiah 29.11), and we both know He has authority over the winds and the waves in my life.
Luke 8.24-25 says, "The disciples went and woke him, saying, 'Master, Master, we’re going to drown!' He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 'Where is your faith?' he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, 'Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.'"
So the response that will bring me peace and be the most pleasing and useful to Him is when my attention is fixed on Him and what He's doing rather than on the creepy storms surrounding me. He has authority, not the storm. I want my focus and confidence to be so fixed on Him that my response to the storm is, "What storm?" ...allowing me to be filled with peace.
