looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12: 2 NKJV)
Pain coursed through my body. Strange sensations in my leg and foot reminded me of the nerve damage left by surgery. Did I make the wrong decision? Didn’t I have peace, or was I wrong?
Your pain may be physical or emotional. Something reminds you that this isn’t what you wanted from life. What is God doing?
In Matthew chapter fourteen, Jesus walked across the stormy sea to his terrified disciples. Filled with boldness, Peter requested to walk with Jesus on the water. Peter’s doing great until he saw the wind was boisterous (Matt. 14:30 NKJV).
According to Strong’s Concordance, boisterous means strong. What force seems to overpower you? What is the chaos in your life? It takes our focus off Jesus. It weakens our faith because we look at the heartache. We look at the bank account? We look at the problems in our families. We look at the demise of our lives and our health.
When our eyes aren’t on Jesus, our faith loses power. It becomes small. We begin sinking. For us, this can occur over days, weeks, and even months, but for Peter it happened in just a few seconds.
Moments might have seemed like hours as Peter wondered why Jesus ever allowed him to sink. Where was Jesus in this storm? Where was the boldness he had only one minute earlier?
Peter cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” (Matt. 14:31c). It’s in the sinking that we realign our focus and our faith. Moments of sinking become moments of strengthening. Where did Peter place his focus when he cried out to Jesus? He focused on Christ. He also had enough faith to know Jesus would rescue him.
Are you sinking in a sea of hopelessness? That’s where I found myself, and I must admit, it took me a while to realign my focus and my faith. I was treading water for a while. If you find yourself in that stormy water today, this is your time for an alignment. Set your eyes on Jesus. Put your trust back in Him. Friend, He will rescue you, just like He did for Peter and for me. Don’t keep depending on your own strength to tread water. Realign your focus. Realign your faith. Trust His strength to fight against the strong storms in your life.
Heavenly Father, I need to realign my focus and my faith. Forgive me for allowing life to distract me, but I need a rescue right now. Walk with me through this storm, and I will continually stare into Your face, knowing you’ve got me. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
** This is the basis of a message I am preparing to deliver in the summer and fall. I’d love your input, and if you are interested in learning more about having me speak in your church, please contact me at carolyn@amountainoffaith.com