Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

Matthew 14:29-31 "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

The challenge of following Jesus is mostly about ignoring ourselves and keeping our eyes on him. Adversity is generally of our own doing because it is our fear of the things that oppose us. The author and finisher of our faith has dominion over all things. Certainly he can control the wind and the waves. But even with that, one further thing. Wind and waves are of this world. When we look at things of this world we have taken our eyes off of Jesus.

It’s quite easy to walk across a 12” wide board that is sitting on the ground. You don’t even need to stretch your arms out to your side to keep your balance. You just walk confidently across from one side to the other. But make that board the only walking surface of a solid bridge between two cliffs, over a raging river 1,000 feet below, with no guard rail or handholds and it won’t matter if the bridge is built so it doesn’t move under your feet, if there isn’t a shred of wind, if the sky is blue and birds are singing, you will have serious trouble traversing the board. Only the very daring would even attempt it.

By focusing on Jesus we can ignore those things around us that shake, rattle and roll our thinking. Whatever they are is nothing compared to all that he is. With him all things are possible. With them only distraction from the calling are possible.

Of course we need to be responsible, using the gifts of intellect that God has given us and the instruction about work to do all that we can in his service. That may mean working in the service of others in order to do God’s work. Doing so responsibly honors the Biblical entreaty to work as though working for the Lord. This brings honor to God because it reflects on him since we are believers in the world. But it also is used by God to secure our day-to-day livelihood. God is not some otherworldly genie that is at our beck and call for whatever we want.

Something that Peter realized when he saw the wind was not the wind, but his own inadequacy in the face of the wind. “Who am I to defy the wind,” he must have thought. By considering himself relative to the power of nature he recognized his inability to control the forces in the world. He was not God. He was just a follower of the son of God who certainly had done miracles but this was pretty scary stuff. The clouds were dark and ominously black, the wind was gusting fiercely, and the waves were dramatic. “Who am I against this” was the question that failed him. “Greater is he that is in you than he who is in the world,” should have been the thought, followed by “I am following the son of God, who is the God who created all things and has mastery over them all. What have I to fear. If God be for me who can be against me?”

God doesn’t ask for our abilities. He knows exactly what they are and he knows exactly what they aren’t. He asks for our will. He doesn’t need our strength or intellect or political or social skills. Certainly he knows their limits. He asks for our heart. “Will you love me with all your heart, your soul and your mind?” he asks. “Will you keep your eyes on me? Will you do as I do? Will you follow me wherever I lead you and never look anywhere else? If you will I will lead you beside still waters. I will bring you through the valley of the shadow of death and you will fear no evil. I will prepare a table before you, anoint you and you will dwell in my house with me forever.”

A life without fear depends on what we see. What we see depends on what we are looking at. Keep your eyes on Jesus.