We honour God when we trust him

If I had been Jesus, when Peter struggled out to me, I think I would have said something like this: ‘Peter, I am proud of you. All your partners stayed in the boat but you got out. You walked on water. You set an example of faith they will still be talking about in the 21st century.’

What did Jesus actually do? Coining a new rather demeaning nickname for Peter, he said, ‘Smidgin-faith, why did you doubt?’

This seems really tough. At least Peter got out and had a go.

The point is that one thing that Jesus wants from us is our faith. He does not tolerate unbelief. He loves us to have faith because when we exercise faith, we are honouring him and honouring his word. We are saying, in effect, ‘Jesus, I believe that what you said is true.’ When we doubt, we are saying, ‘I’m not sure if that’s true or not.’ It is mistrust in him.

I once wrote a song that no one ever sings, but I want to quote some of the words anyway—

When we honour God by trusting in his promise,
When we praise him by confessing what he said,
Then we work with him to help to make it happen,
And we share with him in raising up the dead.

Fear is a major obstacle to serving God. We need to conquer it by faith in God’s Word to step out and serve the Lord. Are you willing to do this? Are you willing to say, ‘Yes, let’s go for it. Let’s believe God for the extraordinary. Let’s believe God for more than we have ever believed before. Let’s trust God that we are going to see some great things happen. Let’s honour him by our faith.’

And if little faith lets you walk on water, what might big faith do?

Fear doesn’t necessarily mean knocking knees and hair standing on end. Anything that inhibits us and holds us back from an abundant life in Christ is probably fear-based. Even shyness is a kind of fear. Shyness can paralyse people sometimes. If there is anything at all that is holding you back from serving God?

So if you need any kind of liberation through Christ, whatever it is, freedom from sin, freedom from fear, anything, don’t let it hold you back. Let’s believe God that he is going to touch you today.

What next?

Linger a bit longer in prayer. If your time is limited right now, find a way before you sleep tonight, somehow, somewhere, to come to God, to confess your fears and boldly declare your faith in Christ to break through into a new level of faith.

Finally, after having read this story for a week, consider how we should respond. See verse 33.