Sunday 10 Aug 2014

August 10: Matthew 14:22-27

Key Verse: Matthew 14:27
But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

Devotion:
When God sends you forward to do something for Him, what do you do? This is a very difficult question to answer until you have gone through the motions and done things a few times. Each time may well be different as we grow in our faith and obedience, or we may well fail at some things which we think are just too much. When the world throws more than we think we can handle at us we do get down and even start blaming others for what is going on. Sometimes we may well even blame God!

But what we should always be remembering is that when God asks us to do something, it is because He knows we are the person to do that task. He has already set things in motion so that we can achieve what He has asked of us. He will make sure that we are able to do it, but we may well have to ask for help along the way. This is just God making sure we know that we can get help for anything. The disciples had no problem going on ahead of Christ, but they had a real big issue with the storm that came along!

They were experienced fishermen (some amongst them at least) and they knew how to handle the boat, but they were still afraid because they thought they were alone. When they saw something walking toward them on the water they did not know what it was. Their inward fear of the storm totally clouded their minds and they thought the worst, they thought they were being approached by a ghost! Fear has that effect on us. Fear will cloud our thoughts and we start thinking of irrational explanations for things that are happening!

If we thought things through properly in our lives we would see so much of what Christ has done for us and come to the conclusion that Christ is always with us; but fear blocks those trains of thought and we imagine all manner of things. Faith is believing in the unseen. We may not be able to see what God has laid out for us, but we should believe in Him totally and expect Him to supply our needs especially when He has asked us to come forward!

Points to Ponder:
How does fear effect you?

Do you rest in God or fear the world?