Walk On Water

Philippians 4:6-7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Yesterday, I woke up feeling anxious. My husband having minor surgery during the morning, to take some cancer out of his leg, may have had something to do with that anxiety. On top of that it was my second day at a new part-time job. And a few of my friends had called with some bad news in their life. It all added to stress I was already feeling.

I went for a walk to get some endorphins going and of course, to strengthen my heart, and to make sure my jeans didn’t shrink when I put them on in the morning.

At first I just felt anxious, and the annoying crows that are around the neighborhood were getting on my nerves making it hard to enjoy the walk I normally enjoyed.

As I walked and prayed, I started to faintly hear the sounds of a different bird not only tweeting, but whistling and then tweeting. The sound became more and more clear, and the sound of the crows cawing became faint as I focused to hear the incredible sound of this bird.

And when I rounded the curve right in front of me there was a flower still on the bush…

I started seeing the beauty of the change of the leaves, and the cool morning air. I was thankful for the break in the rain.

I realized if I keep focusing on the annoying things, I will feel annoyed. And if I keep thinking of those things that make me anxious then I will feel anxious. And I won’t be able to see the blessings around me.

Instead, I needed to just trust what the Bible says and give my anxious thoughts to God so His peace that passes all understanding will fill me.

I was focusing too much on the negative. The Bible says to meditate on the good things.

Philippians 4:8

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 

And then this morning while I walked, I was listening to a song by Amy Grant. One of the lines she sang brought to my mind my favorite story of Peter joining Jesus out on the water in the middle of a storm.

As I thought of this story, I realized that when Peter asked to be able to come out there with Jesus…Jesus called him out. Jesus was walking on water in the middle of a scary storm. And yet, he didn’t tell Peter to stay in the boat. He said for him to come out to him while the winds were blowing and the waves were crashing. So Peter did.

And Peter was just fine as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus.

Peter was just fine in the storm because Jesus was with him. Jesus called him.

It wasn’t until Peter looked at the storm and let it freak him out that he sunk. He was fine with his eyes on Jesus. And He was fine again, when Jesus took his hand and walked with him to the boat. The storm was still doing its thing and Peter was able to walk on that water with Jesus holding him.

No matter what storm is blowing like crazy in my life, Jesus is there…I can walk through the storm and not let it cause me anxiety, fear, or to sink while my eyes are on Jesus.

When my eyes focus on the storm…well, it can be overwhelming. And it can make me feel so downcast and helpless. My faith can just blow away with the wind.

But…

When my faith fails, I can still call out to Him, and like with Peter, I know He will be there to pull me up and walk me through that storm. And the storm will settle, maybe not right away, but someday. I just need to hold on to Jesus and walk with Him to the boat. Stay close to Him until He calms the storm in my life.

Matthew 14:22-30

²²Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. ²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”