Faith over Fear!
“Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” Matthew 14:31
Read Matthew 14:22-33
I use Ellie as my guinea pig when it comes to my Kids Life Elementary experiments. While I’m pretty sure the Jesus lesson is over her head (she’s only three), she still enjoys the experiment itself. After we test it she always ask “will it work for the kids at church mom?” A few weeks ago we wrapped up our Fear Not series by talking about faith over fear. How can we choose faith when we feel that we are drowning in fear?
Experiments really help get the kids attention. I try to do them as often as possible because it’s in the experiment that they just get it! I find the majority of the experiments we do in Kids Life on Pinterest.
The orange that is floating has its peel (trust in Jesus). This orange confidently stays floating on top of the water because it knows who it’s strength comes from. It’s not distracted by its fears and failures! Notice the orange at the bottom without its peel (trust in Jesus). It sank because it let the worries of the world take root and pull it down. Your worry can be so heavy. We see in Matthew 14:22-33 that Peter began to walk on water until he looked around and became troubled by the wind and waves. His faith was challenged and he began to sink. He called out for Jesus to help him. “Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31
Which orange are you? In what area is Jesus asking you to trust Him? Will you be knocked down by the wind and sink in the waves? Or, will you continue to have faith and let Jesus do the unbelievable through you? The disciples didn’t believe it was possible to walk on water. Infact, they thought Jesus was a ghost when they first saw Him walking toward them on water. It was only after all of this went down at 3am that the disciples believed that Jesus really was the son of God.
On another note, the Bible specifically says…
“About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water.” Matthew 14:25
This verse caught my attention. Every word in the Bible has a purpose. When I read that Jesus walked toward the disciples at three in the morning I began to ponder on the hundreds of mornings I have woken from my sleep at three in the morning. It made me question, am I waking up at three in the morning for a reason? Is it God calling me toward Him?
Just a thought! Not relevant in this blog at all. Moving on!
So often, Jesus calls out to us as He did Peter. He calls us to walk on water figuratively speaking. We take that step of faith and are amazed at what Jesus is doing in and through us. Then for a tiny moment we take our eyes off Jesus and began to look at our fears again. We sink. Just like Jesus reached His hand out to catch Peter, He also is reaching His hand out to each one of us. Put your eyes back on Jesus and walk toward Him. Choose faith over fear. Choose to have faith that Jesus will see you though. Choose to have faith that Jesus will bring beauty from your pain. Choose to have faith that when the boat is shaking and the wind and rain is crashing in that Jesus will show up not just in time but at THE RIGHT time. Have faith in Jesus. You might be surprised at where He leads you.
Shine4Him 