Focus: Don't Argue With God!

Text: Mt.14:22.

"And straightway Jesus CONSTRAINED his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away."

After feeding the crowd with few loaves of bread and fish, Jesus constrained his disciples to sail to the other side of town.

The word 'constrained' means 'to compel, to bend or curve, to insist, etc. It has the idea of force. It's like making someone go against his will, or causing someone to do something that he is not willing to, and by so doing the person feels distressed.

It's like they didn't think it was a good idea to sail without him, or it could be they envisaged danger, because as soon as they launched out the storm arose. The Scripture says that the wind was contrary, which means that they were going against the tides. Right in the middle of the sea the ship was tossed with waves. Matthew reports that the wind was boisterous.

Jesus intentionally pushed and exposed his disciples to the storm, and by that exposure THINGS inside them were drawn out, both negative and positive. Negative things like little faith, fear and doubt, and positive things like discovery, wonder, worship and confession. They confessed, You are indeed the Son of God!

The word 'little' doesn't mean that their faith was small. It wasn't the problem of a 'small size faith.' The Greek word used means, 'short-lived, or not durable.' Peter's faith was very brief - a non-durable, non-lasting faith. He believes this moment, but the next moment he doubts or wavers. It's a flinching and fluctuating faith.

The storm will reveal your kind of faith. The storm is never intended to end your life, but to expose your trust deficit, your cowardice, and inconsistency. Also, God will not send you on journey and abandon you in the middle of the way or leave you at the crossroads.

Rest on the word. Go with the word. Don't argue with your God. Take that step now and do what he is telling you to do. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter