2023-05-12
Good Morning Dear Ones,
The Holy Spirit is giving us important reconnaissance for learning one of the most difficult habits we are wise to adopt. That is to trust Him! Things like reading and understanding the Lord’s word, praying, good behavior according to God’s standards, yielding to His will, and allowing Him leadership over our lives are all prerequisites to knowing how to trust Him. And yes, that takes time and self-discipline. As most believers mature, they learn who among other people is trustworthy and who isn’t, and even that can be difficult at times. However, when we are asked to trust in Jesus Christ, a Man Who lived on earth [during His first advent] long ago and is now in heaven. So He isn’t being seen by ordinary means, we must have faith. That too is difficult to acquire. Remember, faith is defined in HE 11: 1, “Now, faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” We should remember the story of the apostle, Thomas [also known as Didymus; see JN 20: 23-29]. Some refer to him as “doubting Thomas,” because he insisted on touching the wound on Jesus’ side before believing that the Person standing beside him was Jesus. Then Jesus said, in JN 20: 29, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” That would be all who have believed after Christ’s ascension [Acts 1: 1-9].
Let me refer you to MT 14: 22-38, the story of Jesus walking on the water. we looked at two weeks ago. Please reread it if you don’t remember. There are some additional lessons from it. Questions asked in a class I took reveal what they are. Why did the disciples go on ahead of Jesus in a boat ride toward Gennesaret after the Lord dismissed the crowd of five thousand who had been fed from five loaves of bread and two fish [MT 14: 17-21]? When Christ was alone after the disciples left, where did He go and what did He do? For how long did He do it? How did Christ approach the boat? At approximately what time did Jesus catch up to His disciples? How did the disciples react? Looking back over this story, what underlying purpose did Christ have in the way the events laid out? Consider your own answers and then compare them to mine.
Jesus instructed the disciples to excuse the crowd after He had fed the five thousand and go on ahead to their next stop by boat to Gennesaret. This left the Lord by himself, so that He could go up a hill and pray to the Father. Because He is in the Father and the Father is in Him [JN 14: 9-11], Christ was receiving instructions for what would happen next. Evening was approaching as the disciples suggested to Christ the crowd should be excused, so they can eat. It was only after Jesus fed the crowd, that He excused them. So, it was likely getting dark when they left [MT 14: 15-21]. That would make it about 5-6 PM. Christ climbed a hill once He was alone, later that night [MT 14: 23]. That would make the time He prayed and returned to shore anywhere from 3 AM-6 AM when He began walking on the water [vs 24-25], or shortly before dawn. From the disciples’ vantage point in the boat, this white-clad figure coming toward them looked like a ghost approaching against the night sky. The disciples were terrified. As Christ approached, they finally recognized Him walking across the water, but this Figure had truly frightened them. Both the feeding of the five thousand and Christ’s walk on the water were designed to cause the disciples to recognize that Jesus was indeed, as COL 1: 15a tells us, “The visible Image of the invisible God.” It also showed them, Jesus had supernatural powers.
We learn that Christ ends up testing Peter’s faith and ability to trust Jesus. Once near enough to see the disciples terrified, Christ says, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” The impetuous and spiritually immature Peter offers to also walk on water, so he asks Christ to call to him and climbs out of the boat after Jesus says, “Come” [MT 14: 27-29]. At first, Peter’s feet didn’t sink, but suddenly they began to do this. In verse 31, we see that Christ reached out and saved Peter. The Lord revealed His majesty. Peter’s problem was wavering faith! We must ask ourselves, what is really the state of our own faith and trust?
PRAYER: O Lord, there are many reasons to have difficulty trusting humans who don’t have mature faith in the Lord. That is because of the sinful nature we have inherited. However, we have no reason to distrust You. PS 56: 3-4, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mortals do to Me?” Spiritually mature believers have had our faith tested. We know how long it has taken us to become trusting believers, who know how to be faithfully obedient in our lives. We are not perfect, even so; only Christ is perfect. That is why He is our Redeemer, the only One Who can bring us salvation, eternal forgiveness, and justification. We thank and praise Him for all His many sacrifices that have blessed believers and have given them all in His generosity. We state these truths in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: For the fifth installment on trusting God, we see that the same kind of instruction can be find elsewhere in the NT with other people. These stories are helpful to those whose hearts are open to doing this. I can tell you that from my own experience that it took me many years to develop the kind of trust that I have now. I’ve been through some hard years beforehand. The divorce from my first husband and temporary loss for six years [from ages 5-11] of custody of my son, recognizing the emotional damage that was done to him after he returned to my household, my surgery made necessary by an ovarian tumor, the cruel treatment Peter received from two companies which ruined his career in the 1990s, the financial stress that he and I went through for the last 25 years of our marriage, the auto-immune disease that left me permanently partially- disabled, and the worst of all, having to grieve Peter’s early death for the last two years. We wanted to celebrate our 50th anniversary, but only made it to 44 years. And yet, here I am enjoying amazing blessings daily after all of it! Despite all these issues, God has taught me to trust Him. My trials have only served to make me trust Him more! I will leave you today citing PR 3: 5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.” Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2023. All Rights Reserved.
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