Walking on the Water

You may be familiar with the passage in Matthew 14 where Jesus walks on the water. Peter was scared at first, but then in a bold moment asks to walk on the water with Jesus. At first he succeeds, then he starts to sink. Pastor Brett Meador gave a good reminder that "The waves that are rolling over your head are the same waves that are under his feet."

The Bible tells us not to forsake the gathering together with believers. We may be at home, but we can still gather virtually with thousands of other believers and Jesus is still in our midst.

It is hard not to buy into the panic when you are at the store and see the empty shelves. It is hard to stay calm when the media is freaking out. When you see all the rising statistics posts, it's hard to keep your heart from skipping a beat.

Peter was in a boatload of panic. The waves were tossing the boat around and everyone was scared, and rightly so. Jesus came into their presence and calm ensued. Peter took steps in his new-found bravery and was confidently walking on the waves. Then he got distracted and began to falter. Jesus again lent his calm to Peter, reached down and pulled him from his panic.

My mom used to say, "Trust God and fasten your seat belt." That means, you do what you can (social isolation, eating right, exercise, plenty of fluids, keeping a positive outlook) and trust that God has the best in mind for you, even if HIS best isn't YOUR best.

Don't let Satan steal your peace. Don't let isolation make you scared. Don't let the distractions take your eyes off the Father. Remember Jesus is our salvation, and in Him we can rejoice, even in the midst of panic.

Some additional thoughts from Mark McCrary about churches cancelling services because of the Coronavirus:

1) This is not a Hebrews 10:25 matter. This passage speaks of not forsaking the assembly, but the word for "forsake" is exactly that-- a leaving behind or walking away from. It means to abandon. That is not the case here. If someone is sick, we do not say-- at least most of us don't say-- they have "forsaken the assembly." I fear we have taken a rather two-dimensional approach to this command.

2) This is not an issue of government oppression. On Wednesday, our governor (Kentucky) asked churches to forgo assembling this weekend. Some Christians seemed to suggest this was some form of persecution. But as one of our elders said, "This is not a 42nd cousin of the government persecution of the 2nd or 3rd centuries." Our federal, state and local governments have an obligation to protect the well-being of its citizens. As Christians, we are called to love our neighbor as ourselves. Last Wednesday, about 1300 Americans had contracted the virus. As of today, that number has almost doubled-- 2572. That's in 4 days. Last week Italy had 600 cases; today they have 21,000, and 200 people dying a day. This isn't government oppression. It is the government trying to protect its citizens. They are asking us to help.

3) This is not a matter of people living in fear or not trusting in the Lord. I’ve seen those statements, and they sound good until one spends a minute or two thinking about them. Are you afraid or untrusting if you take blood pressure meds? Insulin? Cholesterol meds? Go to the doctor? Have a life-saving surgery? If not, then why are Christians who choose to avoid crowds because the medical profession has urged us to do so (in order to contain this virus) living in fear or failing to trust? If you started to leave your house on Sunday morning to go to church and saw a tornado outside in the direction of the building, would you still get in your car and drive toward the tornado, or run to safety? Now, if you would not do these things (take medicine, go to the doctor, run to safety, etc.), then you have every right to judge others. But, I suspect most would not think twice about any of these things. So, let’s not be so quick to judge others by standards that really fall apart when we think about them just a little.

4) Finally, let’s be careful about self-righteousness. I’ve seen more than a few comment to the tune of, “Well, ok, you stay home, but I’m going to obey God….” Implication: if you stay home, you don't love the Lord as much as I do. Self-righteousness is a nasty sin, and does not reflect well on a follower of Christ.