Did Peter Misunderstand Jesus?

Matthew 14:25-33 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid."

And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." 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." Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

I was struck by Peter's statement: "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." Jesus replied "Come."

In that moment Peter asked the Lord for confirmation of His presence and essentially as for a sign from God, "Lord if it is you." Jesus gave Peter the sign - He said, "come"

We know that Peter heard and discerned God's calling at that moment, because he stepped out of the boat - he was in God's will - wouldn't you agree? But what happened next? Though Peter clearly heard God's voice from the lips of Jesus, yet he began to doubt. Instead of remaining focused on Christ he started to look around him at the humanly impossible thing he was doing. As his faith waivered, he began to sink. He sank because he lost focus on Christ, not because he misunderstood the voice of the Lord.

We may believe we know God's will or calling in our life, we may start out well but as we begin to do in our strenth that which can only be done in God's strength, we waiver and then ultimately we question if it was God's voice at all. We begin to think we misheard or misunderstood what God's will is. We can be square in the center of God's will and sink because we lost focus on the only One that can accomplish His will in us and through us. We doubt. Do you feel like you are sinking? It may not be because you misunderstood God's call but that you took your eyes off of Him to accomplish it.

Diane

DIGGING DEEPER
4) Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.

UPCOMING EVENT
May is fast approaching and we will be hosting our 2nd annual Family Freedom Walk on Saturday, May 8th. You can help in two ways. 1. walk – call guest services to obtain a walk package, solicit sponsors and come to the walk. 2. (this is a fun one) Sponsor Victory Call for the walk. We are having a friendly competition between the 2 groups of devotional readers (Freedom Fighters and Victory Call). Our goal is to raise more funds for the Victory Call team than the men raise for the Freedom Fighter’s team. If you would like to join the fun, simply go to this link on our website https://01.secure.elexio.com/donations.aspx?id=366346&websiteurl=http://www.americaskeswick.org&siteid=2184 fill out the information and indicate in the “DESIGNATION” area : Family Freedom Walk: Victory Call or if you prefer make your check out to America’s KESWICK and put in the memo line: FFW/Victory Call and mail to : America’s KESWICK 601 Route 530 Whiting, NJ 08759. ALL DONATIONS MUST ARRIVE NO LATER THAN WEDNESDAY, MAY 5TH in order to be counted for our TEAM. Come on ladies, we can do it!!!