Why Doubt?

 

I've read this story at least 100 times. How God can teach me something new from it yet AGAIN...is just incredible 😂

This story speaks to me today because lately, the Lord hasn't been "behaving as we'd expect" - I've seen and heard SO much pushback and fear and doubt and "concern" about the way church looks these days.

It's sometimes loud
Messy
Some would say irreverent
Some might even say scary

It's not chaotic. It's still orderly and peaceful and joyful, but it's not "normal" either. It's ALIVE like it's never been.

God's been super clear...He's not content to sit around in the tidy little box we so often like to try and squeeze Him into.

Praying in tongues.
Deliverance from demons.
Physical healing.
Emotional worship.

I've seen it ALL in just the last couple months. And, praise God, it's intensifying instead of "calming down" (more, Lord!)

This can make people UNCOMFORTABLE

Let me ask you...who did Jesus make uncomfortable?

Pretty much everyone!

This story is a great example. His best friends SAW HIM with their own eyes as He walked on water.

What was their reaction? Was it "Wow! That's amazing!" or "Jesus, you can do anything!"

Some argue that they didn't recognize who He was, but that's not what the Word says. It says very clearly "the disciples saw Him walking on the sea"

And what was their reaction? "...and they were terrified"

Terrified

Their very human brains jumped right into disbelief and they tried to rationalize it away..."It's a ghost!" they said.

It was easier to believe that a scary ghost was walking their way than it was to believe that the same Jesus who'd just fed thousands with a couple loaves of bread was walking on the water.

Fear and doubt...the terrible rational human condition.

Peter was the first to break through the fear and doubt, and he says "let me join you in this miracle!" I like to imagine Jesus smiling a big joyful smile at Peter as he said "come!"

And then, Peter stepped out. He didn't fret or over-analyze. He didn't pause to consider what might happen. He didn't weigh the pros and cons. He didn't compare the Jesus right in front of Him with Scripture.

He KNEW Jesus, saw the invitation, and he simply stepped out of the boat and

walked.
on.
water.

And THEN Peter realized the situation was a bit scarier than he'd bargained for. He started focusing on his fear. He was probably thinking "is this real?"..."am I crazy?"..."am I safe?"

Of course, we know that what happened next was that Peter began to sink and he called out for help from Jesus.

IMMEDIATELY, Jesus reached out and rescued him. "Why did you doubt?", He asked.

That's the question of the day...why do we doubt? When He's been SO GOOD to prove Himself faithful and capable, why do I doubt?

🔥O𝘩 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭. 𝘋𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘺. 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵. 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘌𝘌 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴!

𝘎𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 - 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 -- 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴...𝘈𝘕𝘋 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨...𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳! 🥰