Through the years, I have been presented with opportunities to step out of the boat and do some water-walking. Like Peter, I have experienced mixed results. When my eyes were fixed upon Jesus, I could respond to his invitation to join him. Simply being obedient to his directive to "come," I found myself experiencing life on the water as opposed to existence on the boat.
Water-walking is the result of responding to a word from the Lord (faith), not a desire to walk on water (presumption). Let me explain. Peter did not step out of the boat until he was summoned by Jesus. Presumption says, "I will step out of the boat because I know Jesus will keep me." Faith says, "I will step out of the boat because Jesus called me." Although the difference may seem subtle, the ramifications are great. Faith keeps Jesus as Lord. Presumption makes you the "head." God honors the former, but he is not obligated to honor to the latter.
Therein lies the problem. How many times have we stepped out on presumption and called it faith? All we need to do is check our motives. What was in our heart when the decision was made? Did we want to lift him up, or ourselves? If our motives were pure and things look bad, don't worry. Like Peter, Jesus will not allow us to drown. If not, it's time to swallow a little pride and start swimming back to our boat and patiently wait on Him to call. Jesus does give us the desires of our heart, but our heart must be his. We must get back to the place where our desire is to see his desire fulfilled and not our own. Grace and Peace to all!
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4 comments:
Great word - perfect timing! Thanks!!
Visiting site for the first time. What an awesome word!
I was just struggling with this very thing. Trying to decipher between Faith and Presumption is sometimes hard to do - but I've found that God is so gracious and he always allows me to get back on track.
MJ
That is so true! That is why He doesn't tell us anymore than is necessary, because we are so impatient. We have to swim and blame it on God, and then so many miss their purpose stuck in the corner with their hurt feelings on their sleeve.
So Good!
awl
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