“He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’” – Matthew 14:29-30
There’s a remarkable difference in what we can do when we’re looking only to Jesus and doing what He tells us to do versus when we’re busy looking around ourselves at all the challenges we face! Peter walks on water when his eyes are on Jesus and his heart focused simply on obedience. Peter sinks when he loses focus on Jesus and notices the wind, the waves, and the fact that he’s doing the impossible.
As the church, we’re routinely called to do the impossible: make disciples, love the unlovable, glorify God in a fallen world. We should never doubt that God will empower us to do these impossible tasks as long as we’re focused on Jesus. When start worrying about the obstacles and challenges that surround us: numbers, culture change, financial constraints, practicalities, opposition, etc. we begin to sink. Unfortunately this is the default mode for many Christians and churches – we worry about what we can’t do rather than simply focusing on Jesus and doing what He called us to do. It’s time to get our focus right because there’s a lot of work to do!!!