Everyday Yes #3

Let me start by saying Happy Mother's Day to any moms out there!! Mothers, Grandmothers, Pregnant Mothers, Moms of "furbabies", Spiritual Moms and Mentors. For those who have lost mothers or babies, and those who's relationships with their mothers are strained* or those who struggle with motherhood or struggling to become mothers, I see you and pray for you. Check out the special video included below in the music list.

Speaking of mothers, I had an exciting week having Mike in town Wednesday night to Thursday afternoon for the birth of his new grandson!! His youngest, Arianna, had Takoda Kai* between 5 and 6 o'clock Thursday morning. And the real surprise was that she ended up in the same room that I had my younger two kids in!! To top it all off, I found out this morning on FB that Arianna's and my birthday's are 1 day apart!! How cool is that, right!!?? I would have posted the card, bookmark, and bracelet I made for her, but just didn't happen. Just know that they were all Native American themed. :) Due to my own family responsibilities, I didn't get over to see her and the baby until Friday afternoon. First time I've held a newborn in 10 yrs.!! He's precious!! Look for the pics on my Day in the Life page later. The rest of my week was pretty decent over-all. They're still working on getting Sheila's belongings from across the hall. I actually heard voices over there 2x this past week, so they should be close to finishing. My own Mother's Day was good. Church in the morning, of course, then my parents came over in the afternoon. I also invited Rob to join us since he didn't have his own plans. We enjoyed a meal of Shrimp Primavera with garlic and alfredo on noodles and Peanut Butter Cup ice cream for dessert. All store-bought and cooked/served at home. It was a nice enough day to go out, but considering limited funds all-around rn, it was best to conserve. My card for my mother will also be posted later on the Craft page. Also pray for Rich's father, as well as Rich and the kids, etc.. we just found out he's in Hospice as of this morning. He's not expected to last the week.

Other than slightly "melty" ice, or puddles; I'm confident in guessing that none of us has ever walked on water. I know I haven't!! LOL (and just fyi, Water Skiing doesn't count!!) ;p

I enjoy being in water generally, if the weather is good or there's an indoor pool, but I'm not a fan of getting any in my ears since having contracted "Swimmer's Ear" as a kid. :/ So, I'm thinking that once again this week, you've already "clued in" to this week's message. Let's explore what God has for us in it... First of all, read Psalm 30 as our new Asst. Pastor did at the beginning of the service. Then turn with me to Matt. 14 about half way through...

Matthew 14:22-32 New International Version

Jesus Walks on the Water 22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.

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This is another story that anyone who's grown up in "Church World" is probably very familiar with, but as we all know, there may be any number of lessons we can learn from it. I've been around Church all my life, and still discover new perspectives from new sources over time. That can be the beauty in lots of books, but none so thoroughly and powerfully as in The Bible. It's part of how God keeps His Word fresh in our lives. So just because you know a story well, it doesn't mean you've learned all there is to learn from it. Let's go out on the Lake with the Disciples and see what Jesus has for them (and us) in shaping us all.

This story shows how Jesus' love and mercy invites us to have "water walking faith". There are no "life-threatening" storms in this one, just a bit of wind; but we'll see how important even that can seem. As you may imagine, this was no easy thing for Peter to even present as a challenge to Jesus, never mind actually trying it!! The point here lies in the fact that, as Disciples of Christ, we have to be "all-in" if we are to succeed. Just like an athlete has to be "all-in" to become a professional at their Sport of choice. Dedication and Training are essential. Likewise, a successful marriage requires not 50/50, but 100/100 from both sides. Parenting well also requires full-on dedication. And not just from the mothers, but from the fathers if and when possible*.

Sometimes we have a certain level of fear in our relationships, or other "teamwork" based connections; so we "hedge our bets". We provide ourselves a space that is all our own. Some men may have a "Man Cave" where they can relax with a hobby or watch the game. Another idea gaining in popularity so as not to be outdone by the men, is the "She Shed" for women. This may serve a variety of functions, depending on personal interests. It could be a greenhouse, an art studio, or just a space to read in peace*. Or either one could have a Music Studio as well. Although, ultimately, any of these could serve for anyone*. In any case, there may be times when we admire something from afar, but we aren't always ready to fully surrender our lives to it. And here's the thing about that with God; if we live in that place of "holding back" or "safety on", we are missing out on the fullness of life He ultimately intends for us to have*. We miss His transforming power in our lives.

There are 2 major "Barriers" or "Hinderances" to fully trusting in God brought out in today's passage. And we may experience any or all of these feelings toward things in our lives that simply feel "too big" for us to handle or be involved with.

Lack of Imagination -- None of the Disciples could quite "wrap their heads around" the fact that it was really Jesus whom they saw walking on the water. All they knew for sure was that Jesus had told them to go on ahead in the boat and He would meet up with them later. They didn't know how Jesus was getting there, only that He would. Their experiences shaped their sense of reality. All they had ever seen was walking on dry ground, riding large enough animals or having them pull wagons and such, and boating. That was all they knew to be possible in their day. For us, the water walking would still be an impressive sight, or even being in a small plane and having Him walk by on the clouds!! :D Jesus was shaping them by expanding their imagination for the "impossible". We need to allow God's Truth to shape our understanding rather than limiting our beliefs based on our experiences.
Fear -- Fear can be a powerful force that holds us back from trying new things* or even re-visiting old experiences. As the saying goes, "But what if I fall?? Oh, darling, what if you fly??" (I may not have that 100%, but you've seen it before) There are any number of motivational sayings like that. And they're all true. The point lies in our focus* as we will see further on.

Jesus shaped the Disciples in various ways during His time with them. The following are some ways He shaped them in the context of our passage above --

He modeled time alone in prayer -- As we mentioned last week, prayer can seem "boring" at times. However, this story in particular at this stage of Jesus' Ministry, shows just how essential prayer can be in preparing us for what lies ahead. Jesus may have been the physical presence of God on Earth, but that brought with it all the natural limitations of humanity. Without having spent that time in prayer, Jesus never could have succeeded in walking on the water. He was just a "regular guy" when it came to the physical aspects of His being. Just as a building requires a proper foundation for it's long-term stability, we need prayer to God as the foundation for our faith.
Jesus went to where they were -- He went to join them in the journey. It is in the Nature of God to desire community with us and help us as we navigate our lives. He was not about to simply travel to the next destination and wait for the Disciples there. He desired to join them as soon as possible when He was ready. As we have seen in other messages, He meets us where we are at and desires to stay close to us every day.
He showed them Who He was by calming their fears -- He identified Himself to them when He saw that they were afraid.

Jesus answered Peter's challenge with one of His own in order to draw him (and the others) into greater trust. Notice Jesus' response to Peter at the beginning of verse 29, "Come." Now, we generally look at this as Jesus only replying to Peter, don't we?? But if that were true, He would have said, "Come, Peter". But all He said was, "Come". That invitation was directed at all of them!! Likewise, it is directed at all of us.

Now look at the next bit in the rest of 29 and into 31 --

Here we see where it says, "Peter saw the wind..." Now we all know that wind itself cannot be seen, only the effects of it. There were obviously some small waves in evidence on the lake. Peter took his focus off Jesus and started to fall. Jesus immediately grabs him. They board the boat together. Now Jesus next words hardly seem fair to Peter considering that he's the only one who acted on Jesus' challenge to step out of the boat, do they?? Jesus calls him, "You of little faith." Seriously!!?? After he literally steps out in faith and walks on the water for several steps!? But let's look at wheat Jesus really means here... If you notice above, I mentioned something about Peter's focus. This is what Jesus is talking about. It's not that Peter's faith itself was "little"; but that the object of his faith had little to recommend it. Rather than looking at the Creator of the wind, Peter was looking at the wind itself. Or at least it's visible effects. Jesus was correcting his focus because anything that is not God is "little" by comparison.

What is our "wind"?? What does it look like in our lives?? Sickness, relationship struggles, lack of money, etc... But what does it say in verse 32?? "When they got in the boat the wind calmed. It may not have been a major, "life-threatening" storm like last week's story, but God knows how easily we can get distracted by even the little things sometimes. "Water-walking faith" may be big or small, but the more we release the distractions in our lives, the greater experiences in God we will have.

Rather than looking at "water walking" moments as a source of fear to run away from, we need to see them as "flags of opportunity" like Ice Fishermen have. (Pastor Matt's analogy, not mine)

Our "water-walking" moments may be the same situations as we saw last week, forgiveness, relationships, etc... Except that rather than "getting in the boat" where Jesus already is, we are "stepping out of the boat" and facing our fears with our focus on Him. The fact is, God is neither bound by, nor impressed by our fear. He simply loves us too much to keep us trapped by the situations in our lives.

In closing the service yesterday, Pastor Matt shared briefly about a "water-walking" moment in his own life from a few years back. Life growing up with his mother was a challenge a lot of the time. Sadly, it was a "tradition" or "unspoken rule" that difficult relationship issues were simply kept quiet. It was just too hard, or too "heavy" to deal with. God put it on Matt's heart at one point to "step out of the boat" and have the hard conversation with his mother. It actually went well and resulted in freedom for all concerned.

Listen to the Master of the Wind, don't let the wind tell the story. --- God Bless!!

Footnotes --

Strained relationships with mothers -- If you read my blog a couple of weeks ago, you'll remember what I said about this. Over the last several years, I've done all I could to avoid spending time with her because of her toxicity. It's hard because my relationship with my father has been good overall, but I just don't deal with her if I can generally avoid it. I've tried numerous times in the past to talk things out, but she won't have any. I view those post about "the only mom you have" with mixed feelings, because it is sad that I can't achieve that connection with her.
Takoda Kai -- Mike's new grandson's name means "friend to all" and "willow tree". Beautiful thoughts and he's just precious.
I've seen both sides of this. I know one father who actually raised his daughter alone for a while before marrying another woman because the mother wasn't fit to keep her. Currently, in Arianna's situation, the father is the one not worthy.
My "She Shed" would definitely be for reading!! :D
Fullness of life God intends -- See John 10:10 and others.
Fear of trying new things -- You will NEVER see me Skydiving!! ;p
The point lies in our focus -- My mind run to the scene in Star Wars when Luke is trying to raise the ship out of the swamp and says, "It's too big, I can't do it." and Yoda replies, "And that is why you fail." Luke's focus was on the size of the ship rather than the power of The Force.