Jump Start # 1191

Matthew 14:31 “And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’”

  We conclude our series on the questions that Jesus asked. This is a great study and it teaches us so many great lessons. A person could look at the questions people asked Jesus and how He answered them. These interactions reveal what was important and what was on the mind of people.

Our verse today takes place on the sea. It is early in the morning, possibly 3 A.M. It’s dark. It was stormy. The wind and the waves were kicking up a fuss. Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and he asked to do the same. Jesus called Peter out of the boat. He started walking, then he took his eyes off of Jesus and noticed the wind and the waves. He started to sink. He screamed out, “Lord, save me.” Then our verse. The Lord stretched out His hand. The Lord saved Peter. Then the question, “Why did you doubt?”

I can think of a few reasons. The wind. The darkness. The waves. People don’t walk on water. Fear is a killer to faith. The fear of the unknown. The fear of what others might think. The fear of getting caught. The fear of disappointing someone. The fear of storms. That did it for Peter. That was all it took.

Fear eroded Peter’s faith. Fear killed it. He was walking, now he was sinking. He believed, now he doubted. The same happens to us. It’s not walking on water, but it can be other things. A comment from a co-worker, an article on the internet, a criticism on a blog and suddenly we are no longer walking with Jesus. Doubt takes hold and we are no longer sure. I watched a Youtube video of a young man blasting some things I cherish and hold dear and true. He was arrogant, brash and without evidence. His criticisms made it seem that I am an idiot for believing what I do. All it takes is something like that to send one’s faith spiraling downward. For some, it comes sitting in a college class. A professor makes profound statements against the Bible which the young believer has never considered before. She looks around and nearly everyone in the class is in agreement with the professor. She begins to wonder. Maybe he’s right. There, in that classroom, her faith begins to sink. She doesn’t know what to think. She doesn’t know how to answer the professor’s charges against the Bible. This also happens when a person gets caught up in a moral dilemma. He wants out of the marriage but the Bible is specific about divorce. He talks to others. He reads some things here and there. Soon he begins seeing things differently. It isn’t a study of God’s word that led him to these new conclusions, it is a situation that he wants to be right, often when it isn’t right. He starts to sink.

Something interesting about Peter’s sinking. It happens. But two things take place that we often fail to see.

First, Peter called out to the Lord. He cried, “Lord, save me.” He didn’t turn from the Lord but to the Lord. When our faith starts to sink, drift and fall apart, it is to the Lord that we need to turn. Too often, we turn to the winds and the waves that created the doubt. We feed our doubts and not our faith. More internet articles. More books trashing God. More conversations with what is wrong with Christianity. It doesn’t take long and a believer has crashed upon the rocks of doubt. Peter turned to the Lord.

Second, Peter took the Lord’s hand. The Lord stretched out His hand and Peter grabbed it. That’s the key. That saved Peter. If we would do the same, our faith would become solid once again. Turn to the Scriptures. Find the answers, they are there.

Why do you doubt? I saw a show recently about Mark Twain. The end of his life was very sad. His daughter and wife died. Another daughter died. That’s all it took and Twain tossed any belief in God upon the rocks of despair. He couldn’t understand. The same tragedy is repeated today. Why do you doubt? Does a death of a loved one erase all the evidence about God? Does the sorrow in my heart mean that God does not exist? God is, if I am happy. But in misery, God isn’t.

Why do you doubt? How can you doubt? The evidence, the proof, the blessings are all abundant. We need to learn from Peter. We need not give up on God because the storm clouds gather and the sky darkens. Be believing—at all times. Be believing when trials come. Be believing when others scoff. Be believing when you stand alone. Be believing because that is right and you know, you really know deep down that the Bible is right. There is too much proof otherwise.

Poor Peter. The Lord didn’t let him sink. He was there. God is there for you if you look for Him. He’s there to pull you out of doubt if you allow Him to. He’s not going to let you sink unless you give up on Him.

Why do you doubt? Great question. Why do we?

Roger

Jump Start # 1168

Matthew 14:31 “Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

  Our passage today comes from that powerful miracle when Jesus walked upon the water. The disciples were in the boat, ordered by Jesus to cross to the other side. Jesus remained and prayed. A severe storm caught them. They were battered by the waves. Jesus came walking. It was dark. The wind was fierce. And the disciples saw someone coming. He’s on the water. They thought it was a ghost. They were afraid. Fighting the waves, now they were fighting their fears. What would they do? They cried out and found out that it was the Lord. He was walking on the water. Peter, wanting to verify things, asked to walk out to Him. Jesus said, “Come.” Peter started walking on the water. Understand this wasn’t a calm lake on a sunny afternoon. It was a stormy night. It was dark. It took tons of faith to even ask what Peter did. He got out of the boat. He saw the winds and waves and started to sink. His faith had already sunk before this. Immediately, the word used so often with the miracles of Jesus, the Lord’s hand was stretched out and He took hold of Peter.

Then our verse comes. You of little faith—an expression used at least four times in Matthew. The Lord was disappointed in Peter. He had hoped more from him.

Disappointment is part of life. It is often hard to deal with. People let us down and they disappoint us. This happens at work. This happens in the church. This even happens in the family. Promises are made and broken. People don’t get nor understand what you think they should. There is a set back in the relationship, sometimes, because of the disappointment, the relationship takes a major hit. It’s hard to recover after the disappointment. Sometimes it is the beginning of the end. The marriage starts to unravel. It’s time to start thinking about a new job. For some, it’s time to find another congregation. It’s hard to deal with things when you are disappointed.

We notice, from Jesus, that He didn’t give up on the apostles. There would be more disappointments. There would be more failures on their part. The Lord never replaced them. He never stopped and said, “This isn’t working.” He stayed with them. He taught and taught and showed and showed. With God’s help, they finally got it. It took time. It took a mountain of patience on the Lord’s part.

We do well to learn from Jesus, but it’s hard. Disappointment can be a knife in our heart. The knife can be pulled out and in time the wound healed, but there remains a scar. There is always that ugly scar that reminds us. It’s a hard decision to know when to hang in and when to leave. It’s hard to know if people are ever going to get it or not. Human nature is so different than divine nature. Sometimes we may give up too soon on others. Sometimes we just grow weary  and impatient and can not endure another set back, another disappointment. It gets to the point where our hearts are not in it any longer. That’s tough to recover from.

For Peter it was faith. Getting that strong faith in the Lord. The Lord believed in him and wanted him. Those patient times were necessary for Peter to become what the Lord wanted.

Parents face this. Your teenagers will disappoint you. It’s hard. You teach and teach and wonder if they will ever get it. Paul faced this with the Galatians. He wondered out loud if what he was doing was in vain. Was it doing any good? They had disappointed him. They were going backwards and not forwards. It would be nice if we could take a break, fall back, regroup and charge back into the scene with more energy, hope and enthusiasm. But too many situations you can’t do that. A parent can’t take time off. The kids need parenting now. A marriage can’t take time off. Most can’t take time off from work. So when those disappointments come, prayer, sticking to what is right and staying with it must be the answer. It’s the only answer. Disappointments can be such a major set back. They can take the wind out of the sails. Walking away can seem so attractive. But that’s not the answer.

Unless something positive turns, the disappointed feels trapped. They are trapped in a marriage that makes them miserable. They are trapped in a job that they are no longer satisfied with. Trapped is a terrible place to be. Hope runs thin when one feels trapped. Desperation and discouragement follow quickly when one feels like the are in a corner. Trapped is a terrible place to be.

Jesus never felt this way with the apostles. He wasn’t trapped. He saw hope and change and a bright future. The key was not waiting on them to get it together, but Jesus taking the lead. He taught. He led. He illustrated. He showed. Jesus, in doing this, turned His disappointment around.

What great lessons there are for us. Monday mornings are hard for some. They must head to a job they do not feel good about. Sundays can be that way for some. Heading to a congregation that they do not feel good about. Taking the example from Jesus, taking the lead, find ways to turn things around. If that cannot be done, then it may be time to move on.

Disappointments…they happen all time. We must learn what to do with them.

Roger