Why Did You Doubt?

 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:31 NKJV)

This is quite a familiar passage of Scripture, Peter walking on water and sinking when his focus shifted to his surroundings instead of Jesus. Peter is often used as an example of lacking faith in this instance, which he did, but I think we ought to cut him some slack, right? He was in unchartered territory. It isn't like he was going around walking on water everyday. No, he asked Jesus in verse 28, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."

Jesus called him and he went. I think it takes a great amount of faith to step out of the boat in the first place, not knowing what would happen, but trusting that Jesus would care for him. It is not unnatural to get distracted by our surroundings, but we can't get stuck in our distractions. Immediately Peter called out to Jesus to save him and He did.

We've all had doubting moments in our lives, but today I ask, "Why did YOU doubt?" Was it because of external circumstances? Lack of faith? Unchartered territory?

After I read this, I sat and thought for a moment to answer this question for myself. Obviously there are many times, but I want to share this one time with you:

About ten and a half years ago, I was recently married, pregnant, and out of work. Not exactly the way I imagined starting my newly married life. My husband and I were both working at our church full-time when they decided to make cuts. I was one of three people who were cut that weekend before Valentine's Day. Now, I had left my job at a big four accounting firm to go work at my church so I was disheveled when I received my walking papers. 

How could this be? Surely God had opened that door for a reason, right?

Given my background in accounting, I thought surely I could quickly find a new job. I even considered going back into public accounting for a while! Eeek! Desperation, right?

As my belly continued to grow, so did my job search. I interviewed here and there. As my belly grew and I went to interview after interview, I received weird stares. A time or two I was asked when I expected to start work and how long did I think I'd need to be out after having a baby. I'm certain my bump played a part in me not getting hired a time or two.

But then a friend of mine forwarded me a job announcement for a position with a government agency. I applied and received a notification that I would be hearing from someone about an interview. Yay! Well, things in the federal government can take a while, a long while. So after about three to four weeks, I reached out and received a response saying if I hadn't heard anything by now then they've hired someone else. Go to usajobs and apply for something else!

#brokenheart

After repeatedly applying and interviewing, I was at my wit's end. The year was halfway over and I'd already given birth. The constant no was unchartered territory for me. I started to doubt and wonder if God was leading me to be a stay-at-home-mom. Sidebar: I love my children, but I don't think I'm made for stay-at-home-mom-life. :-)

Doubt and uncertainty crept in. I knew that I would find a job again, but when? I could have started writing at this time but there were too many unknowns. 

Fast forward a couple of weeks later. I received a phone call about that government position late one evening. They wanted to interview me the next day! Problem was, my husband would be at work and I didn't have a babysitter. I attempted to reschedule but the manager insisted that it had to be the following morning. The kicker is that she allowed me to interview over the phone. I thought there would be no way they'd hire me from a phone interview.

But they did. I received a call later that same afternoon. :-)

I wanted to share this story because we are all facing uncertainty right now, not knowing how things will look on the other side of the issues we face. No matter what's going on in your life, I encourage you to look back on a time when you doubted God and consider why. Then focus on how God worked in your life.

The same God who called Peter to walk on water, and subsequently saved him from drowning is the same God at work in our lives today. Have faith that He'll save you again, my friend!

What will it take?

Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. (Matthew 11: 20- 21 NKJV)

As I read this, the question, What will it take, came to mind. In the above-referenced Scripture, many miraculous things took place in those cities, but the people weren't moved by them. Not moved enough to change, repent, and give their hearts to God. If you continue reading the next couple of verses, Jesus says that even Sodom (remember how God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin?) would still exist if these mighty works had been done there.

Why is it easier for us to believe or cling to negative thoughts or the evil happening around us as opposed to the good? The God things? The holy things? The miraculous? Why aren't those happenings taking root in our soul? In the passage of Scripture, they chose not to believe and repent, and we are often the same way.

This is really random, but as a child, I didn't get as many whoopings or spankings as my cousins. Why? Usually, they got in trouble first! And after seeing what happened to them, I didn't want to experience the same outcome so I got my act together before I got in trouble. lol. 

As I consider that thought, unfortunately, as adults, we don't always learn from the mistakes of others. Some of us need to personally experience hurt and pain to get the picture. To run to God. To trust in His truths.

Make it personal: What will it take for you to give your [insert issue here] and heart to God? What's holding you back? 

Consider everything happening in the world around us. Can you see God at work? Take a few moments to look back over your life, can you see God at work? Has He done enough to encourage you to follow Him? If not, what will it take for you to repent and give your heart to God?

Are you uncomfortable?

"And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region." (Matthew 8:34)

As I read the above Scripture, I thought, why would they want Jesus to leave their area? So I meditated on this for a moment and then it hit me. Jesus made them uncomfortable. Scared. Fearful. What we do not understand, often evolves into fear, unfortunately.

In the previous verses, Jesus had just healed two demon-possessed men. In fact, he cast the demons into a herd of swine, causing them to run off into the sea, killing themselves. The people who were keeping the sheep fled and told everyone what had just happened and that's when the folks came to see Jesus.

Who is this man, right? What is He doing here? How did He do that? We don't understand and we don't want Him here causing trouble so He must go.

An interesting train of thought when you really think about it. Whenever Jesus is doing something in our lives that makes us uncomfortable, we're quite the same. We may not say, go away with our lips, but our actions will do the talking for us. It is manifested in our disobedience to the nudgings of the Holy Spirit or God's Word. It is when we intentionally act out against what we know to be true.

The Good News is that God still loves us and is giving us chance after chance to get it right. If God is doing something in our life that makes you uncomfortable, I encourage you to run closer to Him and not further away. Remember that ultimately, God wants your heart and desires a relationship with you. I believe everything that happens in our lives can be reconciled to that fact.

Prayer: Ask God to search your heart and reveal to you any area where you may be running from Him because of discomfort, fear, or uncertainty. After He has revealed it to you, I encourage you to be intentional in pressing in toward God and surrendering that area of your life to him. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The small things

“Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?” (Zechariah 4:10)

In the above-referenced Scripture, The Lord was encouraging His people from despising what seemed small in the rebuilding of the temple.

We often ignore the small things that appear to be unimportant, but yet have the greatest impact if missing or not functioning. Big toe, baby toe, tongue. What about tasks? Washing dishes or scrubbing toilets? Or what about having experience in your career field but having to start at the entry-level? Or what about ministry? You really want that solo but instead, you have to sing in the choir for years before you're ever handed a mic? Or maybe you've been called to preach/teach, but somehow you're serving in the infant room every Sunday during church service?

Or shoot, look at what's happening around us. Could this be a time of rebuilding? Though it is uncomfortable, I challenge you to be still and see the value in the "small things."

God is always moving, even when it doesn't seem like it. Stand in hope that the small things are part of His big master plan. Don't despise them because they have purpose. Instead, ask God what He wants you to learn in the small things.

I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint. (Habukkuk 2:1)

Habukkuk is questioning God about what he sees before him - the destruction of Judah, the lack of justice, and evil prevailing. Why isn't God stepping in? God does answer the prophet with a response that gave me pause. See verse 1:5. God is working but told Habakkuk that he wouldn't believe His work even if He told him.

"God, why aren't you doing anything" can be the cry of many of our hearts during this time. Is evil prevailing? Why is our justice system broken? Lord, where are you in the midst of this madness?

God is a Holy and just God. I believe He is working. And as in verse 5, we wouldn't believe what He was doing if He told us. Though what we perceive as normal has been twisted upside down, that doesn't change who God is. In fact, everything changes except God. There is an appointed time for every season of life (see Ecclesiastes 3), we must only trust in God's love and character. Habukkuk 2:4 reminds us that the just (us, God's children) shall live by faith.

Our faith, our hope, is not in things of the world, a government, a church, or any other institution, but in the Lord Jesus, our Savior. He is loving and He cares for His children; so don't be weary in doing the right thing, but keep a posture of love, humility, hope, and peace. Be led by your faith in Christ Jesus. 

Running to God's voice

 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. (Jonah 1:3)

Jonah's story is familiar. God gave him a direct command and he ignored it, hoping to flee from God. Is that even possible? This was my Bible study recently, and I want to share my notes/thoughts of encouragement/observations.

*Run to God's voice and not away from Him when He speaks. Even when what he has said seems scary, trust Him.

*There is no place we can go to escape the Lord. He is omnipresent.

*My disobedience can cause storms in other people's lives and vice versa. Is there anyone in my life running from God?

*It's funny how Jonah was the person to cause the trouble, yet he was on the boat resting peacefully during the storm. (Think about that)

*If the crew knew Jonah was running from God (Jonah told them so), why did they allow Him on the boat? Money? Because they didn't know God or His power? (Have you encouraged disobedience in the life of those around you?)

*Only after the storm did they question Jonah about who he was. He told them to throw him over the ship, yet they refused and the storm became rougher. Once they finally overthrew Him, the storm calmed. They vowed to serve God after this. I suppose Jonah running wasn't all bad. Several men were saved that day and witnessed the power of God because of Jonah's disobedience.

Though God can use even our disobedience to draw others to Him, we shouldn't make it a practice to walk in our own way. My sincere prayer for you and me is that we'll make it a practice to run to God's voice and not in the opposite direction.

Let love lead

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. (Daniel 6:10)

I recall the story of Daniel in the lion's den but it had been so long since I've read it that I'd forgotten the details. He was sent to the lion's den because other nobles who were jealous of him, tricked the king into signing a decree that anyone who prayed to any God for the next 30 days would be thrown in the lion's den. This decree backfired on those who tried to destroy Daniel.

*The enemy tried to tear down/attack Daniel's faith. His accusers knew that he was faithful and they knew this trick was sure to get him destroyed by lions. They were partially right. The decree worked, but they didn't count on God saving Daniel. They didn't know God's power.

*God is faithful. There are times when things don't turn out well like they did for Daniel, but one thing we do know is that God is faithful. He honors those who honor Him! God will not forsake the righteous - His chosen ones. And we are made righteous through the blood of Jesus.

*Don't be jealous. Sounds simple, but those feelings can creep in and cause you to do crazy things that can/will backfire. See the folks who set the trap for Daniel? Well, they ended up in the lion's den and suffered the exact fate they had planned for Daniel.

*Our decisions affect those around us. Not only were those men thrown in the lion's den, but so were their wives and innocent children. Be careful not to do crazy stuff that will harm the innocent.

*God protecting Daniel in the lion's den drew others to Him and taught them about His power. I'm certain that was an uncomfortable situation for Daniel, but sometimes God allows us to go through stuff so that His power can be demonstrated.

This coronavirus business is madness, but at the end of it, I see more of God's people returning to Him and honoring His name. Everyone is suffering, some way more than others, but we know suffering brings about endurance. (Romans 5:3-5). We must love one another. Daniel 6 would not have happened if love was leading the nobles.
#ChooseLove #ChooseJesus