THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

January 15, 2025

LIFE IN THE FOLD

I've been thinking about the story of Peter walking on the water. You can read this story in Matthew 14:22-33.

Jesus and the disciples had been with a large crowd of people. That evening, Jesus had fed 5,000 men, in addition to all the women and children, with five loaves of bread and two fish. When everyone had eaten as much as they wanted, the disciples gathered up twelve baskets of leftover food.

Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. Jesus then went up into the hills by himself to pray.

The disciples were far away from land and they found themselves in trouble. A strong wind had arisen and they were fighting heavy waves. It was the middle of the night by this time. I'm sure they were probably exhausted from ministering alongside Jesus that day, then rowing the boat across the lake, and now fighting against the wind and waves. They may have been wondering where Jesus was when they desperately needed his help.

In the midst of all this chaos, around 3:00-4:00 in the morning, the disciples saw someone walking towards them, on the water, and they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, "It's a ghost!"

But Jesus spoke to them at once and said, "Don't be afraid. Take courage. I am here!"

Peter called out to him, "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water."

Jesus told him to come.

Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. He shouted, "Lord, save me!"

Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. "You have so little faith, "Jesus said, "Why did you doubt me?"

When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. Then the disciples worshiped him. "You really are the Son of God!" they exclaimed.

I've heard this story from the Bible ever since I was a little girl. But as I've been thinking about it recently, there are a few things that have stood out to me, that I'd like to share.

Some of the disciples had made a living as fishermen, before Jesus called them to come follow him. They likely had been on the water during storms before; but maybe not in the middle of the night. We don't know the former occupations of some of the disciples, but as a tax collector, I doubt that Matthew had spent much (if any) time in a boat. With the boat being tossed about on the waves, there's a possibility that some of the men were getting seasick. Add in being exhausted from ministering alongside Jesus the day before, then trying to row against the wind and waves in order to safely reach land, they must have been absolutely worn out!

It's easy to judge others for their fears, thinking that we would handle things differently. But just imagine being exhausted, being in a boat in the middle of the lake with the wind and waves causing it to toss to and fro, then looking up and seeing what looks like a man walking towards you on top of the water. I don't know if it was raining and storming at that time, too. It's pitch black out, so you can't see clearly. I think most of our imaginations would have run a little wild on us and we would have been terrified, also! The first thought these men had was that it was a ghost moving across the water towards them.

They had never seen Jesus walk on water before. If you've never seen someone do something, then you don't know for fact that they are capable of doing that. They had seen Jesus perform many miracles, but this was something new.

Then Jesus spoke to them; and they understood what he said! That, in itself, is amazing! Have you ever been outside in a bad storm and had someone standing quite a ways from you say something and you try to understand what they're saying? With the noise of the wind and storm, it's hard to make out their words. My goodness, sometimes my husband and I can't hear each other clearly and make out what the other one is saying when we're in different rooms inside our home!!

Yet, Jesus' voice perfectly carried across the water, over the sound of the strong wind and waves, to his disciples and they heard and clearly understood what he said!

Jesus didn't calm the storm first, then speak to calm his disciples. He spoke to the fears of his disciples first: "Don't be afraid. Take courage. I am here!"

I don't know why Peter called out, "Lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water." Honestly, most of us like the idea of walking on water; but would rather do it on calm waters, on a sunshiny day, with Jesus beside us, holding our hand. We wouldn't particularly want to jump out of a boat, in the middle of a dark night, with a strong wind causing heavy waves. But Peter asked, and experienced something that no one else in the boat did. I think if the other disciples had asked, also, Jesus would have told them all, "Come on!" And had they all started to sink, he could have saved them all from harm.

Peter jumped out of the boat and started walking on water, towards Jesus. But then when he saw the strong wind and waves, he was terrified and began to sink. His reaction was to call out to the Lord to save him. When Peter called out, Jesus was immediately there!

It was only after they climbed back into the boat that the wind stopped. Jesus brought Peter to safety, then calmed the storm.

Here's what I want you to take away and think about from this story. No matter how severe the storm may be that you are going through now or may go through later this year or next year, the voice of Jesus is always going to be louder, if we are listening! When you call out to Him, his response may not be to speak to the storm and cause it to calm; but He will speak to your fears and give you the reassurance that you need. Most of us want Him to speak to our situation and cause it to go away or change. Jesus can do that! But what He may do instead, is speak to issues that need to be dealt with that are within us. Fears, worries, sin, areas that need to be surrendered to Him..... Perhaps Jesus knows that we need reassurance that He is with us; or wants us to learn how to better trust Him; or knows that our faith needs to mature and become stronger. We, as individuals, are much more important to Jesus than our circumstances are.

I've often heard this story and have heard people say that the reason Peter sank, was because he got his eyes off Jesus and was more focused on the storm.... and I'm not disputing that.

Here's something that came to mind as I was thinking about this: Peter was brave enough to jump out of the boat; and he likely could see Jesus when he first did so. But then with the wind blowing so strongly and causing these huge waves, he was likely going up and down with the movement of the waves; which caused him to lose sight of Jesus.

Think of surfers that you've watched - whether in person or on TV. They are carried by the movement of the waves, and sometimes if the waves are large, you may lose sight of them until they ride it out and come out on top.

With the movement of these wind-tossed waves, Peter and Jesus very likely weren't always eye to eye. When Peter started to sink, all he may have been able to see were the powerful waves crashing around him. But just because he couldn't see Jesus, didn't mean that Jesus wasn't there.

When you're going through tough situations, there may be times when all you can see is your "storm". But just because you can't see or feel Jesus, in that moment, doesn't mean that He's left you and is no longer there with you. He's still there! He's still right in front of you! His view of you isn't blocked by the wind and waves that's blowing you around.

Like Peter, when we call out to Jesus, He is immediately there! We don't have to wait for Him to find us, or get to us, but Jesus is always right there beside us - always!!

There may be times when our focus has been so drawn to our storm that it seems as if that thing that we're facing and going through has become bigger than Jesus. But when we change our outlook and focus, then we can see that we were wrong. Jesus is greater than any difficulty, any storm, any hardship that we will ever face. But we may need to readjust our focus.

Jesus did speak to Peter's fears and asked him, "Why did you doubt me? You have so little faith." Sometimes Jesus may speak to us about our fears or doubt or lack of faith. But He does so in love, because He wants us to acknowledge our need of Him. He wants us to trust Him and allow our faith in Him to grow and mature. Read Acts in the Bible and you'll see just how effective Peter was as a minister of the gospel. He grew and matured in his faith and became a powerful man of God.

Jesus did calm the storm; and He will calm our storms. It may not be when we want it to happen and we may have to endure some things in the meantime. Jesus will be with us in every tumultuous situation of our life; and He will be there with us after the storms have calmed. He's always there, in good and bad times.

What will our reaction then be, when the calm comes? The disciples worshiped Him. Worship and giving honor and thanks to Jesus should always be our response. Not just our response to hard times ending or getting through difficulties; but Jesus desires our worship daily.

May the year 2025 be a year of spiritual growth and really committing yourself to Jesus. May it be a year of fully surrounding yourself to what God wants to do in your life. Know that God loves you; He sees your worth; He is always with you and will never leave you; and He is a good, good Father. You can trust Him!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

I've been to several concerts with around 1,000~3,000 people in the audience. Every one of those concerts used huge sound systems with dozens of speakers.

Jesus stood on the side of a hill and spoke to well over 5,000 with no speakers. There is no mention of that being a miracle, but I'm sure it wasn't natural.

So, when Jesus was able to tell His disciples not to fear in the middle of the storm, it doesn't surprise me that they could hear Him. And by the way, He was far enough away that they couldn't tell who was coming, so He was surely far enough that the storm would be much louder than a normal human voice.

The part that confuses me more than anything is Peter's request. Peter didn't know who was coming, so asked Jesus to tell him to "come". And that satisfied Peter. If a bank teller told me, "If that's really you, Jon, ask for $100." And if I said, "Give it to me." Would that really prove it's me?

So, I'm sure it wasn't quite that simple. I expect there was something about Jesus's voice that Peter could tell when it was really Jesus telling him what to do. And it looks like Peter was hoping to step out of the boat, but wanted it to be in obedience to Jesus. Just stepping out on his own wouldn't have been enough.

I am impressed that Peter even thought to step out and join Jesus. Witnessing a miracle is awesome, but participating in it is even better. And I'm impress that when it seemed lost, Peter called out to Jesus before he could even sink all the way down. I wish I would always be that quick to turn to Jesus first.

ON THE MENEWE:

Corn Dip

Mix all ingredients together. Serve with Frito Scoops chips.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

This memory from seven years ago recently came up on my FB page. Jovie just turned 11, so she would have just turned 4 at the time of this conversation:

I was taking Jovie home this afternoon and we had this conversation:

Me: Wow! The wind is really blowing hard. I can feel it shaking the car.

Jovie: Yeah... I already know that.

Me: You did?

Jovie: Yeah... I'm really, really smart. I'm as smart as you and I'm as smart as Jesus.

Me: I think you're stretching it a little!

Jovie: Well, I may not be as smart as Jesus, but I am really, really smart and I know everything!

The rest of the drive, everything I said, Jovie's reply would be, "Umm.... yeah, I already know that!"

She certainly doesn't lack self-confidence or self-esteem!!

Jovie also told me that when she gets a little bit bigger, she will be able to drive and is going to buy a motorcycle. I asked if she was going to ride the motorcycle and she said, "Ummm... yeah! That's going to be what I drive, not a car!"

NOTE: I shared this memory with Jovie's mama (my niece) a few days ago and she said, "There is no way Jovie would ever get on a motorcycle now!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

For I hold you by your right hand -- I, the Lord your God.

And I say to you, 'Don't be afraid. I am here to help you.' Isaiah 41:13

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org