Have you ever had a storm in your life? Of course, you have. All of us that live and breathe have the opportunities to overcome obstacles and storms that rock our world.
I was thinking about the story of how the Messiah had appeared on a stormy, stormy night. The disciples were in the sea, in a boat, when they saw an incredible image walking on the water.
Can you imagine? There’s a storm going on and they’re being tossed around in that boat. Those wonderful disciples who loved God just wanted to do the right thing. They were all together, but they were in a storm. When you’re in a storm, you’re not always at your best. It’s unfortunate that every now and then we’re not our best in the storms, but we’re learning how to behave ourselves and control our vessel, if you will.
The storm was raging on the sea, and Peter looks up and sees this form. Here comes the Messiah in a form he’s never seen before. I want to prophesy to you, right now. Here comes the Messiah in a form you may not be familiar with. He’s not who you think He is, He’s who He says He is.
Christ is standing in the midst of that storm, and Peter cries out to Him and says, “Lord, if that’s really You, just bid me come and I’ll come to You.”
What do you suppose Peter and the disciples were thinking? What would you be thinking? You know what I’d be thinking, “Lord, I know You’re going to give me an explanation.”
When God begins to call you to leave what you know for what you don’t know, He doesn’t give you an explanation. He gives you an invitation.
Remember, there were eleven guys in the boat, and they are hearing Peter. Peter had the tendency to be bold in his conversation and just say whatever crossed his mind. He said, “You just call me, and I’ll come to You”. The other guys told Peter to sit down and be quiet, because if Peter got out, they would have to get out too.
Was it really Jesus standing out there? What a surreal moment; a moment that never had happened before. They weren’t sure of anything and urged Peter to sit down and stop rocking the boat.
In this day and time, God’s got some people seeing Jesus in a form we’ve never seen before. Here comes the Messiah. Here comes the one that fulfills the promises of God. He’s in a form we’re not familiar with. He is standing in the midst of the storm and all He is saying to us is “Come.”
Jesus is giving us an invitation to leave what we know for what we don’t know. It gets hard when God calls us to do something that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. What makes sense about getting out of a boat during a storm and walking on water? What happened to gravity? What happened to common sense? What happened to the reality of what’s going on? All this was going through Peter’s mind.
The water of the Word of God gets hard when both your feet get out of the boat that’s been securing you for the yesterdays. God’s bringing you into the new day and so He is saying, “Come. Leave what you’re comfortable with.” He’s about to put some new wine in some new wineskins. We will see God’s got glory on His mind. He’s bringing you and me to understand that we go through the storms of life.
The storm was raging, Peter got out of the boat. He’s on top of the water, and when he was about halfway there, he sees it really is the Lord. Then suddenly, the wind blows and the lightning strikes and then reason kicks in.
Reason can be overrated, especially when reason is doubt in disguise. Did you know that doubt is the spirit of the antichrist? By the way, antichrist does not mean against Christ. It means anti anointing. It’s the anointing that destroys the yoke. The yoke is sin.
The enemy of your salvation does not want you to know it is the anointing that destroys the yoke. Anything that’s a yoke is a joke as far as God’s concerned. He says, “I’ve already given you the keys to the kingdom.” He says, “You can unlock any door.”
God is calling you to know that storms are going to come and go in the midst of your life. What happened when Peter got about halfway there is he took his eyes off of the One that gave him the invitation, not the explanation.
Did you know that Jesus didn’t say, “Peter, God bless you. You are the only one that got out of the boat. I’m so glad that you got halfway!” No, he said, “Why did you doubt? You came this far by faith.”
I’m saying to you today, don’t doubt. Don’t be fearful. Just come on and know that there’s a new day dawning and it’s an exciting day. It’s an exciting day to move by love and to move by faith, under the inspiration of the Spirit of the living God. All these things are available to you.