HOW DESPERATE ARE YOU FOR AN ENCOUNTER WITH GOD?

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