Reality.
How often does the reality of our circumstances, doubt, or fear distract you from keeping faith?
Peter said, “Lord, if that’s really you, call me out onto the water.” Jesus replied, “Come.”
And with what seemed like complete trust and confidence, he hopped right out of the boat into the water. Shortly after he began to sink. He must’ve realized that what he was doing was completely impossible. Doubt must’ve clouded his mind. The distraction of reality and fear abolished faith in the matter of seconds.
Realistically speaking, the dreams and desires the Lord has placed in my heart are so incredibly impossible. I evaluate how “rational” my dreams are and if they fall in the category of “impossible” I tend to stick them on the back burner and ignore them. Those dreams scare me. They scare me because I am weak, and I know that in order to get to point “B”, I’ll need to work hard and trust in Jesus to guide my every step. The thing is, I want to trust in MY strength. I want to be sure that I won’t get caught up in something that includes risk or failing. I want to be sure that if I’m going to step out of the boat and into the water, that I won’t sink.
But how incredible would it be to look back at the life I lived and be able to declare that my faith was strong enough to withstand the waves that tried to knock me down. I want to be able to look back and replay all of the impossibilities that were made possible not by my own strength, but because I placed all of my bets on the cross. I want to look back at my weaknesses and faults but only see God’s goodness.
Peter embodies our struggle with faith. We crave the supernatural works of our Lord yet we are so terrified of leaving our comfort of reality. In reality, there is no hope for miracles, in reality, there’s no chance of getting more disappointed than you already are. Faith requires us to look only to the Father for a miracle, for guidance, and for strength to do the impossible. The minute we take our eyes off of Him, we begin to sink and as we sink, we drown in our own faults and imperfections. But if we were to choose to keep our eyes set on Jesus, if we were to choose to have faith that says “ I trust you Lord!”, we have the privilege of walking in the grace and authority of a miracle working God.
And who knows, with faith that grand, what may seem like walking on water to you, just might become possible.
-Ali
Ali Quetzali 