I remember growing up and going to Geauga Lake (an amusement park) every summer with my family. They had a ride there called the Double Loop. And…that’s what it did. It looped upside down twice.
When I was little, that ride was so daunting. It seemed so HUGE! I was actually scared of it…afraid to ride it. But the bigger I grew the less daunting the ride seemed until it wasn’t scary at all. In fact, I would ride it countless times each time we went.
The ride never changed. It didn’t shrink every year. It stayed exactly the same. It was my perspective of it that changed.
About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” (Mark 14:25-31)
Jesus came towards the disciples at 3:00 in the morning walking on the water in the middle of a storm. What a miracle. And Peter wanted to do it to.
Peter asked Him to tell him to come too, and as soon as Jesus answered that prayer, Peter bolted out of the boat like a shot. Right onto the water. Right in the middle of that same storm, Peter walked on water. Wow!
Then he shifted his focus from Jesus to the storm, and he went from walking on the water to sinking in a millisecond. He called out to Jesus again, and again Jesus answered him and saved him and asked him this question, “Why did you doubt Me?”
Nothing had changed. Jesus surely didn’t change. He was still walking on the water. Jesus was exactly the same. The storm didn’t change. It was raging all around Peter when he started to walk on the water. The storm was exactly the same.
The only thing that changed was Peter’s focus…his perspective.
Notice that Jesus didn’t ask him, “Why did you take your eyes off Me?” He didn’t ask him, “Why did you shift your focus?” He asked him, “Why did you doubt Me?” Because He didn’t change.
It’s when we take our eyes off Him and look at what’s going on around us instead that doubt can enter in. That’s when we start to fall. That’s when we hesitate to trust Him.
Ever since He told me last week, “You let Me author your faith, but you never let Me finish it,” I’ve been like a dog with a bone – chewing on it and chewing on it and chewing on it. And He reminded me of this story of Peter and reminded me He never changes.
Even though my plan for my prayer being answered crumbled to the ground (you can read about it here in I’ll take that…), His plan to answer my prayer never changed. His power never changed. His ability and will never changed.
He. Never. Changes! (You can go ahead and shout. That’s Good News!)
And just like Peter, if we shift our focus and doubt starts to creep in and we start to hesitate to trust Him, we can just cry out to Him, “Save me!” And He’ll reach right down and comfort and encourage and strengthen our faith.
Even though the answer to your prayer may not have come on your time table or in the way you thought it should, it doesn’t mean He doesn’t have a plan. It just means you have to trust.
It doesn’t matter what storm rages all around you…it doesn’t change Him. It doesn’t change His faithfulness and power and ability. It doesn’t change His plan. He will come through for you! Trust…