DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE (Part 3)
“Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:31 NIV).
The first two parts of this message highlighted some of the things that Simon Peter did to do the impossible by walking on the water: he recognized the Lordship of Jesus; he took the initiative of asking to walk on water; he was ready to leave his comfort zone (that is, the comfort of the boat); he moved toward Jesus; he was tested; and he called on the Lord. This concluding part is more or less what Jesus Christ did in response to Peter’s action.
Anyone that will do the impossible will certainly experience Jesus’ faithfulness (verse 31). Peter had been doing extraordinarily well before he did the wrong thing by shifting his attention from Jesus, and he saw the repercussion. Nonetheless, he retraced his steps by calling on Jesus for help. The interesting thing here is that Jesus was ready to help Peter, and He did help him. In spite of Peter’s seeming unfaithfulness and little faith, Jesus remained faithful. Apostle Paul confirmed this: “Here is a trustworthy saying: ...if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Timothy 2:11, 13 NIV. See also Lamentations 3:22-23).
Anyone that will do the impossible will learn something from Jesus (verse 31). Take a closer look at this verse: was Jesus’ comment here a rebuke or commendation? If it was a rebuke, why did Jesus rebuke Peter and not the other disciples? However, to me, it was both a commendation and a rebuke. At least, Peter had little faith while the other disciples did not have any. One does not need a giant faith to move mountains. Hear Jesus: “I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed [a very small seed], you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20 NKJV). Jesus expects us to take that little step even if we will stumble in it. A crawling child is not afraid that he will stumble as he takes his steps. Though, he falls, he tries again. Jesus rebuked Peter not for taking steps of faith, but for doubting in the process. If you will do the impossible, do not doubt that God can do the impossible through and in you. The other disciples that were in the comfort of the boat were neither rebuked nor commended.
Lastly, anyone that will do the impossible will indeed experience that God does the impossible if he is ready to do all the highlighted things that Peter did. Peter wanted to do the impossible, he did some things, and he experienced the God that is above all the impossible in his life. Do you also want to experience this God? Then dare to do the impossible by doing like Peter. You will indeed do the impossible of walking on the trouble waters of your life in Jesus’ name. Amen.
In His service,
Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor).
NB
1. If you miss any part of this message or you want me to send the whole message to you, contact me at
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