Faith Bigger Than Fears
Let your faith be bigger than your fears.
Admittedly, this is hard. Jesus called Peter out of the boat to walk on the water. Seriously? You want me to do what? Have you ever had that moment? That moment when God says do “this” … and it feels like he’s asking you to walk on water. It’s something so counter-intuitive and it makes no sense whatsoever. Peter asked Jesus if he could come to him. Jesus said yes, come! Peter stepped over the side of the boat and began to walk on water. At that moment, his faith was bigger than the fear of the wind and waves. Mind you, the storm had not stopped. He wasn’t walking on water that was calm. The same storm the disciples were afraid of in the boat was still going on when Peter walked on water. Yet Peter kept his eyes on Jesus and walked on water. What happened when Peter took his focus off Jesus? Yep, he began to sink. He let his fears be bigger than his faith.
It’s interesting to note; God didn’t calm the storm and then tell Peter to step out in faith. I imagine Jesus saying … “I not only want you to step out in faith and walk on water, but I want you to do when there’s a storm raging!”. OR maybe it’s God saying, “I not only want you to step out in faith and take that job, but I want you to do it with the world saying you’re crazy.” Maybe God is saying to you, “I not only want you to step out in faith and move to a new town, but I want you to do it while you have no prospects of a job and place to live, and your family doesn’t support you. Sometimes God will ask us to step out in faith while the storm is raging. The question becomes, where do we place our focus? On Jesus or on the storm?
What fears do you have today? From things like being afraid of the dark to taking a new job to trusting that God will save that lost person in your family. It’s easy to get discouraged. It’s easy to be afraid that the job won’t work out. It’s easy to be afraid that the person in your family won’t change. We give up hope. We start to lose faith. We lose faith when our circumstances control us rather than focusing on the one who controls our circumstances. We focus on the storm.
I tell my kids this all the time … God did not give us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love and of sound mind. So live encouraged today. God gave you a spirit of power, love and sound mind! Remind yourself that God is bigger than the storm. Keep your focus on God. Let your faith be bigger than your fears!