As Vice
President, George Bush represented the U.S. at the funeral of former Soviet
leader Leonid Brezhnev. Bush was deeply moved by a silent protest carried out
by Brezhnev's widow. She stood motionless by the coffin until seconds before it
was closed. Then, just as the soldiers touched the lid, she
performed an act of great courage and hope, a gesture that must have ranked as
one of the most profound acts of civil disobedience in communist Russia: She
reached down and made the sign of the cross on her husband's chest. There in
the citadel of secular, atheistic power, the wife of the man who had run it all
hoped that her husband was wrong. She desperately hoped that there was another
life, and that that life was through Jesus who died on the cross. She
desperately hoped that Jesus might yet have mercy on her husband.
Hope activates Faith, Faith
activates God and God activates His power for your life.
Our struggles have a way of
beating us up. The key is to encounter God. Hope is conceived, birthed and
grown as we encounter God! How desperate
are you for an encounter with God? Here is one of three, maybe four things
I will suggest over the next few weeks that you can do to encounter God in the
midst of the whatever you are going through.
1.
Are You desperate Enough To Get Out of The Boat?
Matthew 14:25-29,30 - 25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them,
walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on
the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried
out in fear…. 28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to
come to you on the water." Jesus replies, “Come!” And peter got down out
of the boat…
Peter was such a typical guy…he wore his emotions on his
sleeve. When he was angry, sad, disappointed, defeated, no one had to guess;
they saw it clearly in his countenance. Who says you can’t tell a book by its
cover? Yes you can! That’s why they have covers!!! Anyway….It is between 3-6am
and he and the others were exhausted as they boated across the Sea of Galilee
hours after Jesus sent them away. They were weary and unsure. Now add to that
the fear of seeing what could only be a ghost coming toward them on the water.
They wouldn’t have thought it was Jesus. They were terrified. But in the midst of his
muddle of emotions, Peter was desperate for an encounter with God! He could
have waited to see if it was Jesus. But He got out of the boat!
"When we face difficulties, we need to remind ourselves
that whatever is trying to defeat us could very well be what God will use to
promote us." He
can’t promote us while we are drifting aimlessly in our seas of worry and doubt
and fear! GET OUT OF THE BOAT! We can either go through life waiting for God to show up in
our situations or we can go after Him.
"When you are tempted to get discouraged, remind
yourself that according to God’s word, your future is brighter than your past;
you are on your way to a new level of glory. You may think you’ve got a long
way to go, but all you need do is look back at how far you’ve already come. You
may not be everything you want to be but you are exactly what God needs you to
be right now for Him to move you toward your future."
I teach my interns every semester, “Learn from your past but
look to your future!” By the way, Peter’s miracle wasn’t walking on water
for a few seconds. It was having the guts to get out of the Boat! He
didn’t Know it was Jesus he just Hoped it was Jesus!
Whatever circumstances you may go through;
it may seem like a storm ready to drown you or some kind of injustice robbing you of your future. Are you desperate enough to do anything to encounter God and see Him move in your life? Are you brave enough to get out of the Boat? Step out of the
cloud of emotion or circumstances that surrounds that issue and trust that He will catch
you! Who knows, you may find yourself walking on water!
GET OUT OF THE BOAT