Matthew 14:22-33
Our society feels as though it's crumbling. Panic has spread like wildfire. People are being impacted from every angle. And yet, in the midst of all of this, there is a unique opportunity. Although it may not be ideal we are in an essence forced to reflect. Our work schedules have shifted. Sadly, some have been eliminated. Education has been moved to dining room tables and living rooms. In-person interaction has been limited. And each day more attempts for solutions are being presented. While the weight of the stress is increasing many people are letting it get the best of them. And the fear and uncertainty is the driving force behind some's behavior.
When Peter was walking towards Jesus he lost sight of what was most beneficial. His focus shifted from Jesus to his circumstances; the waves and the wind. How many times does our belief in God waver based on our circumstances? Sure, we may say God is good. That He is faithful. However, the moment our world feels rocked we start to contemplate. We think of all of the possible scenarios. And in all of our fleshly glory, we rarely conjure up positive outcomes. We instead think of all the ways something will fail. We start operating out of fear and doubt. We become restless as we think of all of the questions to which there is no available answer. And yet, we fail to merely shift our eyes up. We fail to look back at Jesus and allow the sight of Him to be our hope. We would rather allow the chaos our circumstances to swallow us whole then take His hand and rest in the assurance of the things we claim to believe.
This is a time that we as Christians should be rising to the occasion of being a light among the darkness. A time when what we say we believe and our behavior should be matching up. People are looking. They are searching for stability. They are searching for calm in the panic. They are searching for kindness in the ugliness. And the only source for all of those things is the Holy Spirit Himself. Unless we as Christians are daily seeking Him to fill us with the fruits of the Spirit we are missing the opportunity to glorify Him. And that is precisely what the enemy wants. He wants us to focus on our anxiety and let it cripple us. He wants us to keep our eyes focused on ourselves.
We instead should be using our time in ways that scream "Not today Satan!" We should be praying with boldness. Prayers that include government leadership, medical personal, business owners, and society as a whole. Prayers that take into consideration the unfathomable choices people are forced to make. Prayers that include pleas of creating countless opportunities for people to both see and hear the gospel and to accept it as both truth and necessary now and forever.
We as people, especially as Americans, have become accustomed to a certain lifestyle. And now that the security we once felt has been tampered with we are floundering. A Christian's joy and hope should not be contingent on their job, health, possessions, and relationship with others. Yet we so easily become caught up by the things of this world. When doing so we forget that Christ secured our future with the sacrifice He made on the cross. On our own, we do not have what it takes to withstand the elements of life. Our security and survival come from Christ. Although we would like them we don't need all of the answers. Our responsibility isn't about having numerous answers but it is about having the answer.
Matthew 7:24-27 ESV
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
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