-Strenght for Today- "When We Begin to Sink." - Matthew 14:22-33.
We’re living in a time of a “double pandemic,” whereas most Christians are “sitting in their comfort zones, as the “dual waves” of “racism and COVID-19" wreak against “hulls of our insufficient flawed ships.” Many Christians, like Peter, trust the call of Jesus to carry forth God’s purpose, but live-in fear of “societal, and political criticism.” And they become just like the “waves” of the sea,” shaking with quivering motions of “fear and uncertainty.”
So, in this time between outbreak and vaccine, as cities around the world shut down, re-open, and shut down again in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, perhaps Peter’s experience of “in-betweenness” can speak to us. He, as we, stands “in between” two very different kinds of security, two different “definitions of normality, because of the “presence of this virus, and the “sacrilegious injurious treatment, of some people.’”
Perhaps Peter’s experience of “in-betweenness” can speak to those of us engaged in this American experiment as well. He, as we, stands in between “faulty human securities” and “the will of God.”, After all, how secure is a “small fishing boat,” in the midst of the “uncertainty of the sea?”
The expression, “they walk on water” has become a “mild expression” for people who seems “unable to accomplish the impossible.” And yet, in Matthew’s text, Jesus isn’t the “only one” to walk on the water. Matthew writes, as Peter answered Jesus, “Lord if it be You, bid me come unto Thee on the water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus” - Matthew 14:28-29.
Many in America, and around the world, say they believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior, and that in Him is “absolute assurance.” But like Peter, when there’s calmness, there’s no problem with our faith. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid; and begin to sink, but with an eye on “the divine,” a “supernatural behavior took place” when Peter cried out, “Lord save me” -v. 30.
What Peter experienced is no less than miraculous. He literally walked on water. Something happened when Peter was out there amid “the waves” and “the wind.” He was “in between” the “safety of the boat” and the “protection of Jesus.”
Right now, as it were with Peter, “the boat” and “Jesus both offered two different kinds of security.” And there in the water, Peter wasn’t connected “to neither of them.” However, the promise of Jesus prevailed. This text reveals much to us, in that our faith must exceed what we’ve determined to be our “comfort zone,” and realize that only Jesus can save us from “sinking into life’s destitute seas” of uncertainty.
As a Christian living in the United States, I’ve come to realize that the problems we’ve face, isn't a “skin,” problem, but that of “spiritually dead souls,” existing without purpose, in “trespasses” and “sin,” in need of a “spiritually transformed hearts” - Romans 12:2.
The good news that Matthew proclaims for those of us living in these and “any other in-between moments,” is that as long as we’re willing to “begin;” Jesus is waiting and ready to catch us, and “draw us out of the water when we begin to sink!”
Author: Plez Lovelady, Jr., PhD