I like working Jigsaw puzzles. Analyzing the
edges of each piece and that feeling when the pieces fit together – so
wonderful. Then to see a whole picture come together piece by piece; utter glee.
All puzzle people know to get a good start you need the corners and borders in
place first. Even in life, I do well living on the edge where most don’t but
all of us, at some point, need and depend on borders, markers, or signposts leading
us in the right direction. We need them to provide a sense of security. We want
frames for our lives.
Life doesn’t
always give us a frame to navigate in or build our puzzles inside. In fact, Jesus told us we would have trouble
and sometimes need peace that passes the framework of our understanding.
"And
the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your
minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:7 (NIV)
The Bible also tells
us to seek God for wisdom, to let Him make our paths straight, to let Him guide
us….
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and
lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)
But
humans hunger for the tangible, the visual, and the security of the physical
borders. Trusting in God is something Jesus tried to
teach the disciples as well. Remember Peter in the boat? Jesus asked him to step out of the visual,
physical, and into the unimaginable and walk on water. He asked him to go somewhere without borders.
Go, in faith. Go, with God.
Here is
that story of Peter’s faith adventure: Walking
on Water Matthew 14 (NIV)
“Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the
boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After
he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later
that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable
distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
Shortly before dawn
Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking
on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in
fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Do not fear."
“Lord,
if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “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, he
cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught
him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed
into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped
him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
How
many of us want change but when change comes we freak out and want our familiar
borders back? That is our, oh so
familiar, little faith talking. But, as we’ve been told by the Almighty himself,
just a little faith is all that’s needed. Just like Peter walking on water, it was his little
faith that provided the spiritual frame work he needed to step out of the boat.
Looking
at Jesus’ words, “oh you of little faith” we could interpret this as a scolding
but what if we hear it as a comfort and encouragement? After all, if we have the faith the size of a
mustard seed, it’s enough Jesus tells us in Luke 17:6. By reminding us of our
little faith could He be reminding us it’s all we need? How does that change
our fear level or our willingness to keep going. For me it is inspiring.
In
the account of walking on water we also hear Jesus tell his friends not to
fear. Right!? There’s a storm on the water and this crazy
preacher you’ve been hanging out with comes walking on the water to greet you
and you’re supposed to not be afraid. Of
course we would be afraid. Your spouse
cheats on you and leaves, of course we would be afraid. We lose our job, of course we would be
afraid. A loved one becomes very ill, of course we would be afraid. Our child runs away, of course we would be
afraid.
In the middle of these types of life events it’s ok to scream and cry
and tell God we are scared. It’s ok to feel
the “boggle” of the meaning behind the storm, like Peter did, and let go. Jesus is right there to pick us up and hold
us, and put us back on the right path.
To see ourselves walking on water and to know the struggle of the waves
in the storm gives us perspective of life with God and death without him we wouldn’t
have without experiencing both. It
readies us for the next time. And that’s
when we hold on longer than we did before, because of our growing faith. To be
afraid is ok, to allow fear to rule your life is what Jesus warned the
disciples not to give into.
In the end, Peter fell
into the water and cried out to Christ Jesus for help. Even though in this
passage Jesus speaks two phrases about faith and doubt, seemingly spoken at the
same time and linked as opposites, what if they are two distinct thoughts? Let
me re-phrase Jesus’ words and see if we can get another view of walking on
water:
“Ok, fine, be
afraid because this looks weird but it’s me Peter and you know me,
so do not let
fear take over. Peter, your small amount
of faith brought you
out of the boat and you began walking to me,
why did you let doubt in to your mind?
The power you
couldn’t see or even feel beneath your feet was me;
your friend
and your God, holding it all together and
holding you
on the water. Here. take my hand.”
“We can care deeply about
those we know but that empathy rarely extends beyond our line of sight.” This is a line from the movie, “Interstellar”.
We could say the same thing our trust levels as if to say, “We can trust firmly
in what we know but that trust rarely extends beyond our line of sight.” Christ
sees beyond His line of sight, beyond any frame, into what the Father sees. (John
5:19). This is our goal, to be Christ-like and stop relying on the frames of
this world and our limited knowledge. This means we need to get a different
method of solving life’s puzzles.
The idea for this blog came from a story I heard in 2015 when a mother
recounted watching her young son begin to put puzzles together without a frame. It was the moment she realized he had a
remarkable mind. I love that picture and imagined God watching us with our puzzles
and smiling as He too watches our minds being transformed into a Christ-like state.
I believe it is uncharacteristic
of God to expect us to walk on water, all the way back to the shore, our first
time out of the boat. He understands our frailty better than we do. So, when we
are sinking and battered by the waves, why do we beat ourselves up as if we’ve
failed? Isn’t that what Satan wants us
to believe? He is the one who starts the fear in us but casting doubt of our
acceptability to God and we believe the lie that we have failed. Jesus asked Peter, “Why
do you doubt?” This is the root question
that forces us puzzle people to want the frame of life before the center is
filled in. g
And Weaving
We humans are afraid of
the unknown. It is what allows doubt through the door. Remarkably, we believe
the lie that it is the unknown at work. This
is the thing we are afraid of not knowing – our future, our next move, our
feelings, our fate, our path … However, it is not unknown because we are not
dealing with the unknown. We are dealing
with God and He is not unknown but known. We know Him. He is our savior, our Lord, our
God, our comforter, our guide, our advocate, and our friend. His hand is always
there. He is our border and the frame in
which our puzzles can be pieced together.
“For I am the Lord
your God who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.”
Isaiah 41:13
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For OthersBelovedOUR PRAYER
Jesus, thank you for being my friend. Thank you for asking me to join
you on the water and experience full faith but I have to say I am afraid. I have faith in you but not have faith in my
ability to withstand the waves. Please
take my hand. You have promised that I
will not drown. So, today I declare I will not give into to fear or doubt. Forgive
me for the times I did. Forgive me for believing the lies that the unknown is a
reality. You know what is next and I
know you. That is all I need. Help me to hold on to the truth that - that is all
I need. My faith is small but it is
alive. My faith is in You. Hold my hand and save me.
John 15:7-8 “If you
remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be
done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing
yourselves to be my disciples.”
Lord,
thank you for providing the nourishment I need as a follower of Christ and a
leader to those around me. Please help
me see where I need more fat in my life. I want to be faithful, available, and
teachable. Forgive me for pushing away the fat when you have brought it to me previously
and help me see the fat you are bring to others so I can encouragement them to
be fat as well. I love you and I want to
be just like you, fat Jesus. 
