You Can Do All Things.

“And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” – Matt. 14:29 KJV

In today’s reference scripture, the disciples, caught in a storm on the sea were definitely delighted to see Jesus coming in their direction but were equally surprised that he was walking on water. Peter was however able to recognise an opportunity to do the miraculous and so quickly asked for ability to do the supernatural, a request that was promptly granted by Jesus Christ.

The above scripture confirmed that Peter actually did the unexpected for as long as he ignored what was going on around him. However, the minute he allowed himself to be distracted, he started sinking until Jesus stretched out a helping hand to save him from drowning.

The first take home from this scripture is the awareness that every Christian called by Christ and has successfully struck a good relationship with him must raise the bar of ambition from the natural to the supernatural. It is a complete waste of the opportunity of a relationship when your vision of what you want in life is still at the level of your ability before meeting Christ. The Christian in setting targets should no longer consider his old ability but the newly acquired ability in Jesus Christ and aim higher.

The second take home is the error of Peter to stop focussing on source of this new ability because of distractions. There can be only one consequence which is failure. Christians must always focus on the person that called them. So many distractions show up in the course of life that tends to cast doubt on the ability of Jesus Christ to support us in achieving beyond our natural ability.

To walk on water means that even the undulations of the waves did not affect the stability and comfort of the movement of Peter. He was very balanced like he was walking on a smooth surface. This is aside the fact that every surface he stepped on suddenly had the ability to sustain his body weight and so he did not sink. Likewise the fact that some people tried and failed should not be the focus of the Christian just as personal imperfections does not take away the ability to withstand the challenge of every stage in the course the journey to success and breakthrough because the caller (Jesus Christ) has bestowed supernatural ability.

The storm in the form of human comments and opinion also does not matter but once the Christian allows for distraction from all these surrounding events, he cannot access the supernatural support that is available to be used to overcome them.

So it is expected that the Christian will be ambitious in planning for success, aware of the several obstacles to success ( financial, hostile business environment, failure by supposedly more endowed people, etc.) but will be focused on the strength of the personality that sent the invite.

That however is not the case with most Christians today as they have allowed all the negatives of their environment to discourage them from taking the step of faith required for success. Today they are groaning under the failure that has resulted from focusing on their ability rather than the ability of he that called them – 1Thess. 5:24. They are tied down by this fear and start running from pillar to post but then it is still not all a hopeless situation as revealed in the third take home..

The third take home is for such Christians to call on no other but Jesus Christ. He is a very present help in times of trouble (Ps. 46:1) and will surely lend a helping hand. He is always willing to help. You did not fail because you took on a task too big for you like the world will want you to believe but because you listened to those same people who are today blaming you for your failure. The task you took on is never too big for Christ since he encouraged you into it in the first place. Return to him by calling him when you encounter what looks like trouble and you are sure to receive help in your distress.

You cannot afford to operate in the natural when you have the supernatural in you. You definitely can do all things in Christ who strengthens you – Phil. 4:13. You can do it!