Matthew 14:29
And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
There are two incidents in this occurrence that is not for those who are weak of heart spiritually. The first incident is that Jesus constrained His disciples to get into the boat to go to the other side. The second incident is when Jesus told Peter to Come. In both incidents, Jesus knew there was a storm on the way, and He knew that Peter would encounter boisterous winds, and yet He allowed His disciples to go through this. Some modern day backsliders would ask, why did He allow His disciples to go through this if He loved them? Jesus knew what He was doing, and He knew He needed to teach His disciples some critical lessons before He could use them mightily once He ascended to Heaven. Every believer needs to learn several lessons from this story before He uses them in a greater way.
First, everything will not be easy when Jesus tells you to come. Just because Jesus says come does not mean you will not have trouble. Rather, when Jesus says, “Come,” you can be assured that you will face troubles. Does Jesus not care that He would send you through such troubles? Yes, He does care, but He has no way of preparing you for greater use without sending you through troubled waters and boisterous winds in life.
Second, Jesus is always greater than the troubles you will face by obeying His command to come. Jesus is always greater than the troubled waters and boisterous winds of life. Jesus knew what He would do for His disciples during this storm, but He had to let them go through these storms so they would know in years to come that He was always able to overcome any storm they might face.
Third, you will never get to know the power of God without facing troubled waters and boisterous winds. You don't get to know God’s power on the calm seas; you get to know His power in the troubled waters and boisterous winds. You don't get to know God’s power in times of ease, but you get to know His power in the battles. You don't get to know the power of God’s grace without facing the heartache that His grace is sufficient to help. Many want to know God’s power, but God’s power is not needed until you face things greater than your abilities. The fact that Jesus tells you to come means that He wants to show His power in your life.
Fourth, God is preparing you for greater use through the troubled waters and boisterous winds. The greatest teacher in life is life. God has greater plans for your life than you realize, but He cannot trust you with those plans until He teaches you to trust Him through the troubled waters and boisterous winds. What we face today will be the catalyst of God’s power for the future. God’s power is not realized in our strength, but it is realized in our weaknesses. Therefore, God must send you through the troubled waters and boisterous winds before He can give you the greater plan for your life. He needs to teach you that His power is great enough and that your faith is too small before He can use you in a greater way.
Do you want God to use you? If you do, you will have to face troubled waters and boisterous winds before He can use you mightily. However, you can always be assured that if God constrains you to go and He calls you to come that He will always get you to the other side of greater use.
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