Stay Focused

Matthew 14:22-33 (KJV) In this scripture, Jesus directs his disciples to board a ship while He sends the multitude of people before Him on their way. He then goes up into a mountain alone to pray. When He finished praying, the ship  the disciples had boarded was in the midst of the sea, being tossed upon the waves by strong wind.  Jesus heads toward the ship walking on the water. The disciples didn't know who or what was coming toward them, and they cried out in fear saying it was a spirit. Jesus tells them immediately that it is Him walking toward them, and not to be afraid. Peter then says to Jesus, if it is You then allow me to walk on the water toward You. Jesus tells Peter to come, and Peter steps out of the boat, and begins walking on the water heading toward Him.When Peter saw the might of the wind, however, he became afraid, began to sink, and cried out for the Lord to save him. Jesus stretched out His hand, and caught Peter saying to him in verse 31 "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" (KJV) Jesus and Peter boarded the boat, and when they did many came and worshipped Jesus, saying in verse 33 "Of a truth thou art the Son of God." (KJV)

In the above passage of scripture Peter while focused on Jesus, steps out of the boat and walks toward Him on the water. Before he reaches Jesus, however, Peter becomes distracted by the strong wind and the waves it was creating. When Peter takes his eyes off Jesus, and begins focusing on the wind and the waves he begins to sink, and Jesus has to reach out and take his hand. After taking his hand, Jesus ask him why he doubted, and told him he was of little faith. Peter would not have began sinking had he stayed focused on Jesus, and not allowed the circumstances surrounding him to make him afraid.

Like Peter, there have been times in my life that I have failed to stay focused on God, and allowed fear to engulf me. A prime example of this occurred in the winter of 1983. I was sound asleep, when my Mother came into my bedroom, and woke me up to inform me that my twin sister had gone into labor, and that I was about to become an Aunt. Nervous and excited, I jumped out of bed got dressed, and drove over to pick up my grandmother who rode with me to the hospital. When we arrived at the hospital we entered my Sisters room, kissed her, told her we loved her, and then we headed off to join other family members in the waiting room. My Grandmother was a  great Christian woman and she was as calm as I am hyper.

I had prayed several times over the nine months of my Sister's pregnancy asking God to let it go  smoothly, and for her and the baby to be fine. Several hours passed before the doctor came out, and advised us that my Niece had entered the world, and that she was perfectly healthy. I was elated. My elation was combined with fear, when the doctor followed this news with a "but", it was as though I was in a car and had slammed on the brakes. In what seemed like slow motion he said Mom is having a little difficulty, she developed toxemia, and she has a great deal of swelling. We had to perform an emergency c-section  and we are having a hard time getting her blood pressure up, and getting her stabilized. What? Okay here's where my panic set in. I would be devastated if anything happened to my sister. At this point, just like Peter, I took my eyes off  God, and let fear and panic consume me. I was sinking. I paced around wringing my hands, and I must admit I had allowed  fear to throw me into an agitated state.

While lost in  panic, I had failed to notice that my Grandmother was no longer in the waiting room. I hadn't seen her in at least ten or fifteen minutes. I headed down the hall to the vending area thinking maybe she had gone for coffee, she wasn't there. I looked down the adjoining hallway to see if she had gone for a walk, and she had not. The last place I checked I found her. I entered the restroom, and found my 76 year old Grandmother alone, and praying. I, like Peter, had focused on the turmoil around me and reacted to it with fear and panic. My Grandmother had stayed focused on God, and remained steadfast in her faith. She wasn't sinking.

What a powerful moment, and tremendous lesson my Grandmother taught me that day. When I walked into that restroom, and found her praying it had a huge impact on me. My Grandmother took my hand, and we exited that restroom together. We returned to our seats in the waiting area, and shortly after, the doctor returned to say my Sister was stable, and doing well. Praise God, my Grandmother's prayer had been answered.  To God be all the praise, honor, and the glory. The doctor then informed us that we could see the baby at that time, and my Sister a bit later. We headed to the nursery, where they brought my Niece to the window in a red stocking. She looked adorable. I was overcome with emotion, I cried tears of joy, and thanked God for her, and for stabilizing my sister. A bit later, I was allowed to see my sister, and I told her how much I loved her and how grateful to God I was that she and the baby were doing well. I thanked her for making me an Aunt, and told her my niece was beautiful.

After my sister came  home from the hospital, I told her how our Grandmother had reacted to the concerning news the doctor delivered initially, and how I had found her in the restroom alone and praying. I confessed to  her that I recognized immediately our Grandmother was walking in faith, and I was walking in fear. After I finished telling her that story, we thanked and praised God together. We thanked him for the answered prayers, we thanked him for her health and the babies, and we thanked him for blessing us with such a special Grandmother.

Friends I want to encourage you to stay focused on God, and remain steadfast in your faith. Don't make the mistake that Peter and I made, and lose focus. When we lose focus, we sink.

If you have a prayer request and would like me to pray for you, leave me a message and I will be more than happy to do so. May God bless you.