Do you remember your first step? Probably not, but I would bet that your parents do. I remember when my daughter, Grace was learning to walk. My wife and I would sit on the floor just a few feet away from each other and have her stumble between us. She giggled and laughed the whole time and, once she got to one parent, couldn't wait to be turned around and sent back to the other one. She loved it and and we would be entertained for hours. I wonder if God is as amused, as He sees us stumbling and fumbling around, trying to get from one place to the next place He wants us to get to.
There is one way we are quite different than our children when they are learning to walk. They trust us. As far as I know, there has never been a toddler that said, "I don't know guys. Do these legs really work like that? This balance thing, can we go over that again? Now, you say you will catch me if I start to fall. Do you have any experience doing that sort of thing or are you just winging it."
I think most of the time, what God sees is a lack of trust. Remember the story of Jesus walking on water when He invited Peter to join him (Matt. 14:22ff)? Most of us are like Peter when he crawled out of the boat onto the water. Within minutes, he was doubting. He took his eyes off of Jesus and looked down at the ferocious waves. He couldn't believe he was actually walking on water. And, at that point, he no longer was able to do so. He begain to sink. What's the lesson here for us?
Obviously, it has to do with faith or trust in God. But, let's be a little more specific. We can't help but be a little more cognitive than a baby. We are thinking, reasoning adults; but, we must come to Christ like one of these little ones, trusting, excited, ready to have a good time. Instead, like Peter, we may be hesitant to even get out of the boats; and then, even if we do, we lose our focus almost immediately. We begin to trust in our own logic, or knowledge, or skill (in this case, lack thereof).
It isn't hard to imagine what Peter was thinking. "Wait a minute, what am I doing? I don't know how to walk on water. I have never done this before. Maybe I should take it slow, start with a mud puddle or a shallow spot near the shore. Are there sharks in this water? I am sure Jesus meant something else. He wouldn't expect this of me. Of course, He can walk on water, He's Jesus. The waves, the wind, it was all pretty noisy; I probably didn't hear it right. I need to learn to listen and not be so impetuous."
All Peter needed to do was to keep his eyes on Jesus. It isn't rocket science. Trust Jesus. But, don't we make the same mistake? We need to keep our eyes on Him in order for us to be able to keep moving in the right direction. Ultimately, all our efforts are to become more like Jesus. Whenever we put our attention on anything other than that, we will begin to sink, we will begin to fail. If we try to think too far ahead of that, we will end up like Peter, talking ourselves out of doing what we have been told to do. Jesus gave Peter one instruction, "Come." He invites us to do the same. Come. Trust me. Just come.
Godspeed, Phil
There is one way we are quite different than our children when they are learning to walk. They trust us. As far as I know, there has never been a toddler that said, "I don't know guys. Do these legs really work like that? This balance thing, can we go over that again? Now, you say you will catch me if I start to fall. Do you have any experience doing that sort of thing or are you just winging it."
I think most of the time, what God sees is a lack of trust. Remember the story of Jesus walking on water when He invited Peter to join him (Matt. 14:22ff)? Most of us are like Peter when he crawled out of the boat onto the water. Within minutes, he was doubting. He took his eyes off of Jesus and looked down at the ferocious waves. He couldn't believe he was actually walking on water. And, at that point, he no longer was able to do so. He begain to sink. What's the lesson here for us?
Obviously, it has to do with faith or trust in God. But, let's be a little more specific. We can't help but be a little more cognitive than a baby. We are thinking, reasoning adults; but, we must come to Christ like one of these little ones, trusting, excited, ready to have a good time. Instead, like Peter, we may be hesitant to even get out of the boats; and then, even if we do, we lose our focus almost immediately. We begin to trust in our own logic, or knowledge, or skill (in this case, lack thereof).
It isn't hard to imagine what Peter was thinking. "Wait a minute, what am I doing? I don't know how to walk on water. I have never done this before. Maybe I should take it slow, start with a mud puddle or a shallow spot near the shore. Are there sharks in this water? I am sure Jesus meant something else. He wouldn't expect this of me. Of course, He can walk on water, He's Jesus. The waves, the wind, it was all pretty noisy; I probably didn't hear it right. I need to learn to listen and not be so impetuous."
All Peter needed to do was to keep his eyes on Jesus. It isn't rocket science. Trust Jesus. But, don't we make the same mistake? We need to keep our eyes on Him in order for us to be able to keep moving in the right direction. Ultimately, all our efforts are to become more like Jesus. Whenever we put our attention on anything other than that, we will begin to sink, we will begin to fail. If we try to think too far ahead of that, we will end up like Peter, talking ourselves out of doing what we have been told to do. Jesus gave Peter one instruction, "Come." He invites us to do the same. Come. Trust me. Just come.
Godspeed, Phil
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