Do You Trust Me?
By Shauna Leis
“'Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:28-31
Ah, I had just finished a rather difficult business trip and was so excited to be back in the continental United States and on the highway driving home to my family. The week had not gone as I had hoped, not completely a bust, but certainly not all that I had anticipated that it would be with the preparations we had made. So, I was even more anxious to be back in the comfort of my own home, spending time with the family that I so dearly missed during my travels.
Imagine my shock and anguish when my husband called me on the way home with devastating news for our family. You know that the conversation cannot go well when he starts out with, “Hi honey, I have been waiting for you to be back home. I have something to talk with you about.” Now, there is a problem in this logic in that I was not physically “home” but rather still driving home from Cincinnati. At that point, I was too physically exhausted to argue with him.
So, I waited for whatever bombshell was about to drop. He had just been let go from his new job after only a couple of months. This job that we were hoping meant such a great future for us with more opportunity for him and more freedom for him – gone in a day when his boss decided he just could not take the risk with this move. All of the promises this man had made to us crumbled in just one phone call.
Needless to say, I could not say much of anything at all and let my husband hang up the phone. I sat there now emotionally, physically, and spiritually spent – and still driving. My mind started whirling with questions, and I began hurling them up at God, “WHY? What purpose can this possibly serve? When would we finally be settled into a career for my husband? When was it my turn to take a break and not work as hard in my career?” All perfectly selfish questions I know, but when you are in that sort of state, sometimes you do not consider what you are really saying. All you really want is to hear something from God that helps you explain the madness swirling in your midst.
And hear from God I did…not want I really wanted to hear, but what I needed to hear. I would have loved to hear Him say, “I have something better in store for you, my children.” However, what I undoubtedly heard was, “Do you trust Me?” I had to stop for a minute (not literally of course, but spiritually) and check myself. Did I indeed trust that God, Creator of the entire universe really had everything under control, including the job status of my dear husband? I wish I could tell you that my immediate answer was to scream out “yes,” but it took me a minute to digest all of it. So, I started to think about the example of Peter walking on the water.
In the Gospel of Matthew above, the disciples were out on the boat fishing and saw a figure coming toward them across the water. Of course, they were terrified until Jesus told them it was He. Peter, always impetuous but determined, indicated that if it was really Jesus (and just who else might it be walking out on the water one would probably ask Peter?), then command him to walk out to Him. Peter at once trusted Jesus and climbed out of the boat to begin walking on the water. Instant trust Peter was famous for – but trust that faded at the first sign of trouble. Peter saw the waves crashing around him and started to sink until Jesus physically reached down and rescued him.
If this does not parallel our own spiritual journeys, then I do not know what does. We trust God spiritually as long as things are going well in our lives. We willingly climb out of the boat and start our trek across the water, and then the waves of life start crashing around us, and we begin to sink.
Dear One, God wants us to trust Him that He is in control at all times and has our best interest at heart. He sees the bigger picture that we cannot see at the time and knows long term what is best for each one of us. Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” It is our trust in God through all situations that brings the hope, joy, and peace. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that allows us to trust God when it seems impossible. Will you trust Him with me today? My answer by the end of the drive home was, unequivocally, “YES! I will trust You!”
Pray with me: Dear God, oh there are times when we do not understand all that is going on around us in a moment. We question why things must happen the way that they happen, and our trust in You is put to the test. But, God, we do trust You with all that we have and all that we are. We long to get out of the boat and walk with You across the waters of life, no matter what goes on around us.
Fill us with Your Holy Spirit so that we can have a supernatural trust in times of trials and testing. It may require waves to crash around us, but we will not lose our focus on You. We love You so very much and pray all of this in the precious name of Your Son, Jesus Christ! Amen!