There’s Only One Way

Story: Angry man throwing deodorant

I was leading a group on a mission trip

A man found himself at the airport ticket counter and was so angry that he forgot all words and threw his deodorant in the air before stomping away

I’ve never been so angry that I wanted to throw my deodorant…but I have found myself in situations where I did NOT respond the way I wish I would have responded.

Because we’re gathered for worship and the context is listening to God…I’ll tell you…

I often find myself in situations where I unfortunately do not act like Jesus and when I look back on those situations, I didn’t trust that Jesus was King over whatever was happening.

Tonight, my prayer is that you and I will lean in and listen to the words of Jesus…and in doing so, we will hear the Holy Spirit reveal some kind of Next Step…

PRAY

In John 6, there's a moment when Jesus does one of the absolute most amazing things that He's recorded doing... HE WALKS ON WATER.

This whole event has always seemed wild to me — I don’t enjoy being in the water…I’m a land animal.

Story: Grace being run over with the boat

Pontoon boat on bay

Saw dolphins and Grace wanted to swim with them

Hopped off the front of the boat, which continued to move forward…right over the top of her

She thought the boat was going to “chop her up” and panicked in the water

The event is recorded in John 6 but the same event is also in Matthew 14 and Matthew has a lot more detail, so I want to actually spend our time in Matthew's version...

Matthew 14:22-33 (p. 668)

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

Sometimes Jesus sends us directly into a storm.

So just because we’re going through something hard, it doesn’t mean that God isn’t in our situation.

If you’re in the middle of a relational storm right now or a financial storm right now or an emotional storm right now…don’t necessarily assume that you took a wrong turn somewhere along the way.

Illustration: Take a breath

I have a bad habit of initially overreacting to situations.

Unfair situations

Hurtful situations

Scary situations

My wife will look at me and say, “First of all…we’re just gonna take a breath." And then we can talk through what’s going on around us.

Some of us just need to take a breath right now and get a little perspective and context for what’s going on.

For the disciples in the boat in the middle of the storm…

They had JUST been with Jesus when He had fed 5,000 men - plus women and children - using only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

Jesus had never failed to provide in the past, so why doubt that He will provide in the storm??

When I take a breath…

I remember that Jesus has never failed to provide before.

I remember that Jesus NEVER promised that life would look “normal."

I remember that Jesus DID promise to never leave me, never abandon me and never forget me.

I remember that Jesus WILL provide in the future because that’s who He is…He provides for His people.

Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

Jesus usually shows up in unexpected ways at unexpected times.

…and if you’re not watching for Him, you’ll miss Him.

Story: Picking Chastity up at the wrong school building

A few years ago, I went to pick up my daughter at school.

They said, “We don’t have a student here by that name."

So, I insisted they did and they were wrong and I just wanted to pick her up.

Eventually, they asked, “What grade is she in?"

I confidently said, “Third grade."

And they said, “Well, this is the 4th, 5th and 6th grade building, so we don’t have a student here by that name and you’ll need to go to the other building."

Sometimes we can’t find what we’re looking for because we’re looking in the wrong place.

Sometimes we embarrass ourselves because we think we know what we’re looking at but we really don’t have a clue.

Sometimes we quit something too early because we think there’s not any hope in a situation but in reality, we’re just blind to see it.

Right now, some of us are feeling frustrated…

You’ve been looking for hope and you’re not finding it.

You’ve been trying to sort out things but all the “experts” on social media have been confusing you.

You might be thinking about just giving up because you think everything is utterly hopeless.

None of that is true. There IS hope. There IS a future. God IS still in control. We just have to look a little deeper. Because Jesus might be showing up in ways that are NEW and UNEXPECTED.

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid."

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water."

“Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!"

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God."

First, we have to take note that “little faith" doesn’t mean “no faith.”

The problem isn’t that Peter didn’t have faith…the problem was that he had inconsistent faith.

Peter had faith that Jesus could sustain him on the water…but then the fear of the storm overwhelmed his faith…but then Peter had faith that Jesus could pick him back up again.

Peter had faith, it was just inconsistent at times.

Chances are, you have faith…it’s just a little inconsistent at times.

The trick is discovering how to have consistent faith...

The only way to get consistent faith is to spend time with Jesus.

Later on...after Jesus had died, resurrected, ascended to heaven, and sent the Holy Spirit...Peter -- the same Peter -- would find himself in a situation where he had been arrested for preaching about Jesus. He would be thrown into prison for the night and was bound with two chains.

Acts 12:7

Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up.

It's always seemed odd to me that Peter needed to be woken up while imprisoned and awaiting his fate. I think I would've been awake all night worrying.

But Peter was...sleeping.

Why would he sleep? Why was he calm? What was he thinking?

Mark 4:37-39

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

My Theory: Peter learned to have consistent faith because he spent time with Jesus in the middle of the storm.

And when he was locked in prison in Acts 12...

He considered if Jesus would be able to rescue him...

Jesus is the King of Creation...so two chains and a prison wall are no big deal.

He considered what Jesus might do in a situation like that...

Jesus would sleep...so Peter slept.

If you want to gain a consistent faith to use when life feels stormy...you MUST MAKE A HABIT OF SPENDING TIME WITH JESUS.

INVITATION: Spend time with Jesus.

CHALLENGE: Live with the faith of someone who has spent time with Jesus.