It's Too Difficult!

I was walking out of the house to run a necessary errand this afternoon (that to be honest I didn't want to do since I am still on the tail end of some sort of cold) my mother in-law's pharmacy delivery had just arrived and in passing the driver mentioned that most of my Christmas lights were finally taken down. I shared that I wait for decent weather and that I am currently sick. His reply is the point of this story... "It's always something, isn't it."

As I left to run my errand I thought on those words and and how many times I have heard them recently. I have even heard some people repeating them over and over. And let's be honest, it's not an inaccurate statement. God did not promise anywhere in His word that life would be a cake walk and nothing bad would ever happen. In fact it is quite the opposite. Check out what Jesus said in John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." So not only did Jesus NOT promise us a life of ease, but He went as far as to make sure that we were aware that the complete opposite is true. The problem is too many of us get stuck here. We just cannot seem to get past the idea that we will have trouble in this life. We all need to stop wrestling with this one and just accept it. Until you do, you will never be able to move on to the good things in life.

Now once we accept that there is trouble, the obvious question needs to not be why, but instead how do I deal with it. Why is that the question? Because God answers that question clearly in scripture over and over again. Whenever we search for the why we sometimes get answered and sometimes we don't. Sometimes it is because of sin or just a poor choice and God can or has already made that clear. But the question of, how do I deal with it, is clear. One place Jesus illustrates this is with Peter walking on water, a story I am sure most of you are familiar with. Matthew 14:28-31 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”“Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”

There really is something here we need to get a hold of. Yes, Jesus told Peter why he began to sink. But notice it is was something Peter was doing wrong. And it is what Peter was doing wrong that gives us all a huge truth. Peter "saw the strong wind and the waves". Well, I suppose it would have been difficult to not see them. In fact you might say "DUH! of course he saw them." But here is the issue. Doing a wee bit of word study reveals that Peter didn't just see the wind and waves. The greek word originally used here more says that he gazed at them. Gaze meaning, "to fix the eyes in a steady intent, look often with eagerness or studious attention". Peter was fixated on the wind and waves.

Another example is when the Israelites spent 40yrs wandering in the desert. It was for doing the same basic thing. Numbers 13:33 We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!” The Israelites didn't know what they were thinking. No person is a mind reader. But it's this choice to look and see trouble and not walk in faith that caused them to disobey God and spend 40yrs wandering in the desert.

So what do we do? I hope you've come up with the answer already. We need to change what we gaze at. It's about choosing to not look at the wind and waves and instead keeping our eyes on Jesus. And even more Paul had wrote in Philippians 4:8 "And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."

The world will probably tell you that to not look at the wind and waves is foolish, but that's not how God sees it. We need to get this because every day we don't we are missing out on enjoying the blessing of God because we are too focused on everything going wrong. The wind and waves are there, there is no doubt about it. But is what you are fixated on? Jesus doesn't want us fixated on the wind and waves. What Jesus wants is for us to walk on water despite the wind and the waves.