Jesus uses adversity to grow our faith

During our last Sunday service I delivered a message about having faith in Christ. As I sit and contemplate the state of our society and country it became troubling to me, until I was moved to read the scripture on when Jesus walked on the water. As I read Matthew 14:22-33 my worry soon turned to joy. Three distinct points soon became apparent to me as I started to write my Sunday sermon. First, I was reminded that God always knows where we are at and when we are in trouble. Second was that he has the ability to overcome any obstacle to reach us. And finally that he has complete control over his creation.

As I studied the scripture, I soon realized that despite the fact that Jesus was on the surrounding mountain in the dark miles away from the disciples, he was still able to see their circumstances and their struggle. As we look at the troubles that our country is facing in the present times it can be upsetting, but one must remember that God is fully aware of what is happening. Like the disciples our faith is tested from time to time. In times of conflict we should always remember the teachings of Jesus. First and foremost we need to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves, as it says in Matthew 22:37-40.

We should be comforted in the fact that Jesus has the ability to overcome any obstacle in his path to us if our heart is set on him. Jesus demonstrated the ability to walk on the water to grow the disciples’ faith as well as showing them his true nature. He could have swum through the water, or appeared in the boat with them, or even calmed the wind from where he stood on the mountain, but he choose to demonstrate his complete control over adversity and use the disciples’ troubles as stepping stones to reach them. As the scripture describes Peter stepping out of the boat towards Jesus, we see that as long as our eyes our fixed on him we can accomplish anything but if we take our eyes off of him we begin to fall. So as the troubles of the world cross our path, brothers and sisters, let’s keep our eyes focused on him.

Jeremy Robertson is the senior pastor at Moses Lake Worship Center.