Our Lord is the same today as He was yesterday, and as He will be tomorrow. Don’t take my word for it – take His! He has said it through His Word: “Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8 CEV).
i always shudder whenever i hear someone say, “God doesn’t work like that anymore.” If that’s the case, then who changed? Because God said He never changes. So on whose authority do we make that statement? It obviously isn’t on the authority of God or His Word, so it must be on our own authority.
And what is the basis of our authority? It can’t be our position – because we are the created beings. What created being ever had the authority to say what its creator can and cannot do? The painting doesn’t have the capacity to tell the painter what he or she can or cannot do. The painting doesn’t select the color, the size of the canvas, the stroke, or the subject. The painting has no say in the matter. Through its position as the painting, it has no authority over the painter!
So if it’s not our position, then our authority must come from our experience. But does our experience dictate the ability of an Almighty God? Is an Infinite Eternal God limited to our finite experience?
Let’s come back to the statement – God doesn’t _____ like that anymore. You fill in the blank. Does He not “heal” like that anymore? Or “speak” like that anymore? Or “provide”? Or “perform miracles”? Or “answer prayer”? Or “save”?
If our experience is that God doesn’t do any one of those things anymore – or all of them, is that a reflection of an unchanging, holy God – or is it an indication that our faithlessness has blinded us and deafened us to His work, His ways, His Word and/or His very Person?
It was early in the first century AD. No created being in recorded history had ever walked on water. The sheer physics proved the supposition that it was impossible for a man to do so.
Three of the Gospel writers give an account of the night – Matthew (14:22-34), Mark (6:45-53) and John (6:15-21). Jesus had just performed the miracle of feeding five thousand men, plus women and children. As the crowd watched the disciples collect the twelve baskets of leftovers, the significance of what Jesus had just done with five loaves and two fishes began to sink in with the crowd. They had come with the expectation of seeing Jesus perform a miracle, and He had not disappointed them. The crowd became frenzied. They were “ready to force Jesus to be their king.”
Matthew and Mark tell us that Jesus “insisted that His disciples get back into the boat” and cross to the other side of the lake. He knew that they were in danger of being caught up in the frenzy, so He was getting them away from the harmful influence of the crowd.
Be mindful that at least half of the disciples had grown up on this lake. They had been fishing on boats on this lake since they were old enough to throw a net. This was a familiar place for them. Also, just a few days earlier, they had made a similar journey to Gennesaret. That time Jesus had been in the boat with them – and He had calmed the storm. So now, in the midst of something very familiar, comes “the lesson in the boat 2.0.”
They were out in the middle of the lake, and they were besieged by heavy waves and a strong wind. Unexpected wind and waves were not unusual on the lake, but they can come up on you suddenly and require all of the attention and skill of experienced seamen. All of a sudden, all of their thoughts and conversation about what they had witnessed Jesus do earlier that day ceased, and their complete attention turned to the storm surrounding them.
Did Jesus know that He was sending the disciples into a storm? Of course He did! The disciples had just experienced tremendous exhilaration in being part of such a great miracle – the feeding of the five thousand. But what had they learned? And would they apply what they learned in this storm? Was the same Jesus – who just a few days before had spoken and calmed these very seas -- and a few hours before had fed a multitude with a little boy’s lunch – able to deliver them from a storm in the midst of a journey He had directed them to take? And did they have the faith to trust Him to do so? Mark writes that their hearts were still “too hard” to take in the significance of the miracle of the loaves.
The disciples had only traveled three to four miles over many hours as they struggled against the storm. It was now three o’clock in the morning when Jesus came toward them, “walking on the water.” All three Gospel writers write that the disciples “were terrified.” They all thought Jesus was a ghost! Then Jesus called out to them, “Don’t be afraid! Take courage. I am here!”
Matthew records that Simon Peter called out, “Lord, if it’s really You, tell me to come to You, walking on the water.” Perhaps it was at this moment that Peter truly began to understand what they had witnessed Jesus do with the five thousand. Because it prompted an expression of faith from him, unlike any of the rest in the boat. So that when Jesus said, “Come!”, Peter jumped over the side of the boat and “walked on the water toward Jesus.”
It wasn’t the water Peter was trusting in. No created being had ever walked on water. He was trusting in the word that had been spoken to him, and the One who had spoken it. The impossible – feeding five thousand with a boy’s lunch, or walking on water – becomes possible when Jesus says so! We can’t wish it into existence; we can only experience it becoming so, because Jesus has said it is so! And once He does, we must step out on faith, keeping our eyes on Him, His word, and His promise. Because the moment we divert our eyes to the circumstances surrounding us, we will “sink” just like Peter did. (By the way, let’s be careful that we not judge Peter too harshly – he was the only one with the faith to get out of the boat to begin with!)
Throughout God’s Word, we see a God who heals, who performs miracles, who provides, and who parts the sea, dries up a river bed, stills the storm and enables His disciple to walk on the sea. No, He hasn’t changed. He is still a miracle working God bringing glory to His name.
Continue to praise Him. Continue to trust Him. Because the One who is the same yesterday, today and forever is still mighty to save. Don’t wait until after the breakthrough – continue to praise Him – even before the breakthrough.
Excerpts from Walking With The Master, Ch. 33
Praise Before My Breakthrough
I know the tension of the now
I don't always understand
I don't always get to see
Everything
When I'm holding up my hands
When I'm counting every breath
Lord, all I need to know is
You choose me
You choose me
I'll praise before my breakthrough
'Til my song becomes my triumph
I will sing because I trust You
I will bring my heart, I will lift my song
When I'm listening for Your voice
And I'm shutting out the noise
I know that You will speak
Clearly
When I'm living out my faith
When I'm stepping on the sea
I know You take my hand and
Walk with me
Walk with me
I'll praise before my breakthrough
'Til my song becomes my triumph
I will sing because I trust You
I will bring my heart, I will lift my song
He who came in power, He will come again
He who heals the sick, won't He move again
He who raised the dead, won't He raise again
And I will sing, I will sing
He who came in power, He will come again
He who heals the sick, won't He move again
He who raised the dead, won't He raise again
I will sing, I will sing
Oh I will sing, I will sing
I'll praise before my breakthrough
'Til my song becomes my triumph
I will sing because I trust You
I will bring my heart, I will lift my song
And I'll praise before my breakthrough
'Til my song becomes my triumph
I will sing because I trust You
I will bring my heart, I will lift my song
I will bring my heart, I will lift my song
And I will sing because I trust You
And I'll worship because I trust
I sing because I love You
And I'll bring my heart, I will lift my song
Songwriters: Katie Torwalt / Bryan Torwalt / Brock Human