Peter/Jesus/Water

Matthew 14:22-33 Jesus and Peter walk on water

v.22 Jesus sends his disciples out into a sea that He knows will rage

Did He cause the rage? I don’t think so.  But He knew about it. He also knew He wouldn’t let them be taken under. WE need to KNOW that about Him, too

v.23 He went away to pray

v.24 The boat went THREE MILES out into the sea.  It was beaten by waves, the wind was wild… Imagine that.  In a small unstable fishing boat. The whole time they were out there, they had to fight for survival. I wonder if they cried out to Jesus for help and didn’t hear anything the whole time they were out there.  JESUS SENT THEM INTO A STORM and then they didn’t hear from him when they called? This was RIGHT after he saw him feed 5,000 people from a loaf of bread and pieces of fish. They surely remembered this.

v.25 The “fourth watch” was between 3am and 6am.  Which means that they were battling a storm for OVER 9 HOURS. Then Jesus walks to them ON the raging sea from the directions of the storm. (He reigns over storms) not the direction of perceived safety (the shore)  

v.26 They thought Jesus was an evil spirit/ghost (which shows how human they/we are).  Why did they think this? It’s like the storm already had them in fear mode – so they saw scary instead of safety.  I think Jesus wants us to not be swayed by fear so that we recognize Him when he comes to us (to save us). To recognize what it means to be saved from a trial

v.27 Jesus’ voice is what reassures them.  He doesn’t say His name.  He says, “It is I.” They know who “I” is.

Before that he says, “take heart.”  Looked it up and it means something like “be encouraged; be confident in me; be of good cheer; be of good courage”

TAKE HEART

DO NOT TAKE FEAR

TAKE ME: I am your courage, I am your confidence, I am your cheer

v.28 Peter answers him, “it is You…” Then He tests Him even though he just said “it is You.” So like us, ya know?  Tell me to come… almost like “I dare you”

v.29 Jesus: come

Peter: came

v.30 But then Peter remembered the storm (which tells me that he forgot about it for a minute even while it was swirling around him) .  It says he “saw” the wind (fear) and IMMEDIATELY Peter sank. FEAR SANK PETER, NOT THE STORM. 

What was Peters gut response? Before his head even went below the waves, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Before he had a chance to question again whether that was Jesus, at the deepest part of him, he cried out.

Which sounds so faithful right?  Immediately, I thought, “man I bet that’s what Jesus wants from us.”  That’s always been the point of this story for most people

v.31 But then…in verse 31 Jesus grabbed him first and responds with “you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

v.32When they get ON the boat, the storm stopped. I’ll tell you what that means toward the end

v.33 WORSHIP!!!

1. That is what happens after fear almost overtakes you and you are saved. That kind of worship makes sense

2.They worshiped TO HIM, IN HIS PRESENCE, WHILE HE WAS THERE.  We do not worship a dead God. WE, here in present time, worship TO Him, too!  Don’t forget that.  You are worshiping the same God in the same way as the disciples.  The same water walking God who let the storm rage for a long while before he grabbed onto peter.

Final thoughts:

So Jesus lets us go out beyond what we can save ourselves from.  He LETS US. In fact, when the disciples went out, Jesus went the other way and hid in order to pray.  He still walked out on that water, not only to save them, but to teach them something about themselves and Himself.  Which builds endurance and strengthens them and teaches them for when He isn’t there in the flesh.

He saves us.  He’s bigger than any storm, a storm doesn’t even touch Him. It makes me think of the line in a song, “The wind and waves still know your name”

But in what he did for the disciples, he was showing them that He wants us to have the INSTINCT to trust Him IN the storm. It’s not even good enough to doubt and then trust after like Peter.  HE WAS BUILDING INSTINCT IN THEM.  Not human instinct but Holy Spirit instinct.  It ‘s like he was building a home primed and ready for his spirit when he left.

It also shows that we need to know His voice.  His voice, not his words is what they connected to.

After: worship

These are the notes I took from the Brooklyn Tabernacle podcast I heard after I took the above notes

*It was God’s will that they get in boat

And God’s will that they go through the storm

*We think we shouldn’t go through difficult times when we know Jesus. But storms BUILD our faith.  He wants it for us.

*So on the mountain, Jesus is interceding for us, praying to God for us. If we think he has forgotten us in the midst of our storms, we need to remember he’s on the mountain, interceding at the right hand of God the father

**The wind didn’t die down the moment Peter came to Jesus the water died down when BOTH of them came to the boat. Which means He walked through the storm WITH PETER (reminds me of the fiery furnace and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego)

*2^nd storm comes (see Luke 8), the guy on this podcast said that Jesus slept on a pillow (on purpose sleep)  Disciples are scared, Jesus says Oh ye of little faith. 

2^nd storm is maybe worse but what do they do?  THEY WORSHIP HIM. Before it’s died down and in their fear. They didn’t wait to “get on the boat” this time. They’re worship sounded like:  “And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

The first storm did that.  Taught them to worship

*On the other side of both storm, healings happened on the land. Why the storms?  Because God knows what’s on the other side. It’s not about the storm and it’s not about you, it’s about who Jesus wants to be to you in the storm, how He wants to change you, and it’s about What Jesus wants to do THROUGH YOU on the other side of the storm. It’s “for the people” to get to Jesus

DO YOU SEE THIS? THIS IS HUGE. It’s not about you getting through a storm so that you can learn a lesson and grow FOR YOU alone.  No!  It’s so that you can be strengthened in order to promote the kingdom.  I think I’ve always thought storms strengthened me for me.  Like a storm comes, I withstand it, I get a medal for it, wave it around, and Jesus is over there like  GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME.  What you earned through that storm was endurance and the ability to better praise my name to people who don’t know me or need me.

DO YOU GET IT? These storms are not about you!  Is it hitting you? They are filled with winds and waves and PURPOSE.

*So don’t be caught up in the storm and say oh this is too difficult and ruining my life! Lift up name of Jesus!!!!  First!

See Jesus do great mighty things through you. Sometimes you go through the storm and it’s not even for you, it’s for somebody else because Jesus wants you to keep trusting in him in a hard situation. Keep your eyes on Jesus

How we should deal with storms then?

****Don’t go through storm defeated and depressed go through with confidence knowing your Savior is enough and you will trust him no matter what. He’ll use you on the other side of this storm. There’s another side to the storm!  SO WORSHIP HIM NOW

***Go through hard situations from a standpoint of victory instead of defeat

So alllllllllll this to lead us back to Hannah.

She changed her attitude before the circumstances changed, She poured out her prayers to God, made promises, trusted,

It said her face changed, she was no longer sad. She let go of it. So this tells us how to let go of things.  Pray FIERCELY give it all to Him…your emotions, your thoughts, your words, your dreams….then promise God (God, if you give me this thing, I will use it for YOUR glory)…then change your face. (I tell my kids that all the time)

SHE WORSHIPED first thing when she got home. Before her husband knew her.  

Look what happened.

So, what is the theme in both? What is God showing us?  

WORSHIP BEFORE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE –before the winds and waves die down.

WORSHIP AS THE STORM BEGINS – at the first hint of rain

WORSHIP IN THE STORM

WORSHIP WHEN THE STORM IS OVER (in the boat)

WORSHIP IN BETWEEN STORMS

WE NEED TO LIVE IN AN ATTITUDE OF WORSHIP

WORSHIP NEEDS TO BE OUR INSTINCT

Go through hard situations from a standpoint of victory instead of defeat

Don’t go through storms defeated and depressed go through with confidence knowing your Savior is enough

THE ENORMITY OF THE STORM SAYS NOTHING ABOUT THE ABILITY OF YOUR SAVIOR. WHAT THE ENEMY USES FOR BAD GOD USES FOR GOOD.

WORSHIP ANYWAY; WORSHIP ALWAYS

LIKE HANNAH (a metaphorical storm, a storm of her emotions)

LIKE PETER (an actual storm where physical harm was threatened)

On the other side of both of their storms were miraculous healings. Healing of Hannah’s body which lead to not only Samuel but to more children. Healings in the lands where the boat that withstood the storms went to.