Day 20
"Walk By Faith, Not by Sight"

Matthew 14:22-33


Faith is not supposed to be a substitute
for brains, but often our minds work
against our faith instead of alongside it.
We are not to tempt God or
abuse His care for us by doing things
beyond His clear plans and will for us.
For example, you don't play marbles
on a busy highway and expect God
to keep the traffic from running over you!
Common sense is God's gift, too!

On the other hand, if you need to see
and understand everything before attempting
anything for the Lord, then
where is the faith in that!?
It went against nature and
common sense for Peter to walk on water.
But he did ask Jesus first and only
got out of the boat at the Lord's command.
At that point, it became logical
to walk on water. Why?
Because Jesus said to! Obeying God
is always reasonable and the right thing to do.

However, Peter changed his focus.
He looked away from obeying Jesus and toward
his circumstances. Jesus said he could walk
on water, but his circumstances said he couldn't.
Focusing away from obeying Jesus,
Peter began to sink.
He quickly focused on Jesus again!

What might God be calling you to do
that would require walking by faith -
obedience despite your circumstances?
Tithing? Leading a Bible study?
Sharing your faith with a friend?
A new job or other life-changing decisions?
You cannot walk on water by man's reasoning!
Obedience requires faith, no matter what
the circumstances might seem to say.


Prayer: Heavenly Father, we would love to walk
by faith and not by sight and follow
you no matter what it takes,
but sometimes we need help.
Strengthen our faith and call us to greater things.

P.S. In the early days of our church,
we decided we needed to purchase our own
sound system and get a keyboard or piano.
Our dilemma on the piano was that we
knew we could afford a good keyboard for $2000.00,
but we didn’t really have another $3000.00
needed for the piano we wanted.
We decided the piano (which we still use)
was the way to go. We purchased it
on a “90 days-same-as-cash” basis in
order to give ourselves a little time
to “find” the rest of the money.

Meanwhile, something odd happened in my ministry
that led to a donation to our church,
from someone outside our church,
of – you guessed it - $3000.00!
Sometimes you just have to
step out of the boat!


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