Derek Grier - Take The Step
We're gonna be, again, in Matthew 14 and 25, and again, it's a very familiar passage. Jesus had just fed the multitude, 5000 with, you know, loaves and fish and he dismissed the crowds and the Bible says he made the disciples get into the boat, but after they left, a violent storm ensued. And, you know, the Bible goes on, it says, you know, by the time we're gonna pick up, the disciples were straining at the oars, meaning their arms were tired and it had been a long time.
So when you're straining at oars, that's a very, a serious things. And they had followed Jesus' command to go to the other side ahead of them and they had rowed and they had rowed and they had rowed, but they were stuck. Anyone ever feel stuck in this room? Yeah, yeah, yeah. But not only were they stuck, they were tired. The disciples were on empty. And this is where we pick up, and if there's anyone here that feels like you're on empty, today's message is for you.
"Now in the fourth watch of the night," they had left late afternoon, the day prior, and normally, you know, this journey only took about two hours or so to cross the lake on a regular day, but they thought it would take two hours, but then it didn't. You know, the most important things in life tend to take longer than we would expect, even when we expect them to take longer. That's just the way it seems to go. So now in the fourth watch of the night, now that's strange language to us, why? Because we don't have watches in the night, if you will.
So, like the Romans, the Jews divided the nighttime into four watches, and it really came as a military term because the sentinel, every three hours, would rotate, it'd be changed. They didn't want the guy guarding the land or whatever he was guarding, to get weary and fall asleep, so every three hours, a new, fresh guard would come in and they'd rotate. So the first watch was between 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The second watch was between 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m., and then you have 12:00 p.m., the third watch, to 3:00 a.m., and then 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. is the fourth watch. So we see here, now the disciples are in the fourth watch of the night.
Now here's the challenge, they should have made it across in the first watch. But they didn't. Most of these guys that were on the boat were seamen. John and James, Peter and Andrew, they fished by trade. So these were guys that were used to the sea. So, okay, they ran into a little bit of trouble in the first watch and they probably, you know, knowing the disciples, they'd been listening to Jesus teach for a while, and these guys, you know, they're used to tough circumstances. They didn't live in the conveniences we face today.
So, you know, they're in this first watch, like you know what, the Lord didn't promise, you know, that it would necessarily be easy, but then the second watch came and I could imagine the disciples thinking, "Wait a minute, now, this is a little bit more than I signed up for now. Jesus, I didn't wanna get in this boat in the first place and, you know, I wanted to hang out with you, but you made me get in the boat".
So they make it through the second watch, but then the third watch comes and it's dark, and the wind's blowin' and all the rest of the stuff is goin' on, the storm is thick, and they're starting to think, you know, "We thought Jesus knew what he was talkin' about, we really thought he was hearing God and everything, but you know, these carpenters these days, you know, I'm not so sure about this Jesus". But still, they're off course and they haven't gotten to the other side and the fourth watch came. Exhaustion was setting in.
I've said to you before, their arms felt like wet noodles and they keep trying to row, but they're not gettin' anywhere and they're frustrated and, you know, they were so far from where they thought they should be at that time, they probably started some resignations started to set in. You know, "Maybe we just let the boat just blow to the other side of the shore. We're never gonna get, at this point, to where God wants us". Is there anyone listening today who thought that by this time, you'd be further along than you are? Is there anyone listening that you're running out of steam. It's not that you don't want to, you're not so sure if you can.
Now it's the fourth watch of the night, they were doing what Jesus commanded them to do, but then the first watch, no rescue, the second watch, no rescue, the third watch, no rescue, and now they're in the fourth. But I find life is like sports, games are won or lost in the fourth quarter. Now in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them.
Now the Bible says that Jesus went up the mountain to pray while the disciples went on the lake and it also says that he saw them straining at the oars. He saw them in trouble. But he waited, not until the first watch, not the second, not even the third, but Jesus doesn't show up until the fourth watch that he goes out to them. And then the disciples thinking, you know, it's like, you know, "God, it's a lot later than what we would have expected". But here's the deal, God knows exactly where you are, how long you've been there, what you expected him to do even earlier, but God's timing is always perfect. Mm hm.
What I've learned about God, and it frustrates me, like it probably frustrates you, God is less concerned with the speed of the journey than he is about what the journey is designed to produce in us. Mm hm, mm hm, mm hm. Some things will not develop in the first quarter. Some things will not mature in you in the second or even third, there are certain things that God has to allow some time and space in order to develop it. So it's now the fourth watch of the night and Jesus, who is the word incarnate, "In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, was God," isn't that what John said in one and one?
So the word incarnate went to them, walking on the sea. And as overwhelming as their situation was, I want you to notice that it was only the word of God that was still above everything, trying to bring them down. You might be in the middle of it, you might be in the thick of it, but remember, God's word is still always above it. Their boat might have been sinking, but if they'd hang on to that word, you hear what I'm sayin'? The wind, all that, I got it, but if you hang on to that word. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled.
Now these are thinking men, these are smart men. We find that in their writings. They do sometimes do dumb things though, but they're, how many of y'all are saying, "You're smart people, but you do some dumb things"? Okay, so all right, good, okay good. So the disciples have now had a moment, they're like, you know, could this situation get any worse? But then it did. I mean, what's worse than a watery grave? They're going down. But then they say, "It's a ghost".
Now every ancient child grew up hearing stories about ghosts at sea. And if you didn't hear about ghosts at sea, you heard about people falling off the end of the Earth 'cause a lot of people thought the Earth was flat, but typically it would be these ghost stories of these creatures and sea creatures at sea and all the rest, and at this point, all of their fears were coming to pass. So first they were in a devil of a storm, but now, in their mind, they think they're facing the Devil, himself.
So watch what happens here, and they cried out in fear. Jesus had been teaching them faith. He already taught, you know, the sower goes and sows the word and he's been teaching them the principles of faith, but they didn't cry out in faith, they cried out in fear. But like these disciples here, some of us have the answer staring us right in the face, but our emotional state causes us not to see. You see, you could become so emotionally unhinged, upset, that you start confusing God with the Devil and the Devil with God. And what the Bible says is that they cried out in what? Fear.
So it's a little bit like gold in heat, and you've seen, I've shared this, it was before, you heat up the gold, and then the draws comes to the surface, and what do you do? You swipe off the draws and you heat it up more and you keep doing that process over and over again. But there were certain draws, certain things in their character that would not come up until the fourth quarter. The reason he didn't answer in the first quarter is 'cause he was after something in them. And sometimes the reason God doesn't answer your prayer exactly when you want it because he's working on something, do you understand?
But immediately, Jesus has a different message and a different perspective than the disciples. And he spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer". I'm sure the disciples were thinking, "Jesus, are you not paying attention? We're tired, we're wet, I'm getting tired of Matthew, I'm getting tired of John, I'm getting tired of Judas, never liked that Judas, we've been stuck in this boat for hours". You see, when you look at things only from the natural perspective, you'll find every reason to be frustrated and every reason to be afraid. But when you look at things from Jesus' perspective, from the word's perspective, you always have reason to rejoice. The same situation, but very different attitudes.
Now Jesus understood that he didn't tell them to go into the middle of the sink. He said, "I want you to go ahead of me to the other side". So he'd already released his word, "Go ahead of me to the other side". So what do you do when you're circumstances don't line up with the word? You see, Jesus, we say Jesus walked on water, but really, matter of fact, I'm a little bit ahead of myself, it would be presumptuous for me to go onto the Potamic and just walk because I think I'm a water-walking Christian, but if God said, "Come..." It wouldn't make sense for me to stay on the shore. Do you... Jesus had no transportation to get to where he was going, so God had to provide.
And I love to have plans that work and I love convention and practical things, but when natural things fall short, that's when God does the extraordinary. So when you find yourself in a situation where there is no natural help, God's about to do something that's never been done before. And you'll also see a little one-up-man-ship here because Moses parted the Red Sea, walked on dry ground. Jesus is like, "I'm gonna do one better, I'm gonna walk on the sea without God drying it up". So Jesus spoke to 'em and said, "Be of good cheer".
You see, when you're at the lowest, you gotta learn to look to the highest. He said, "Be of good cheer," it's not the Devil. The Devil didn't delay Jesus on that mountain. There wasn't spiritual warfare that kept Jesus from getting to the disciples. Jesus was workin' on something. He said, "It is I," you may think you failed it. The friends who was supposed to be rowing with you may be failing, but God's word will never fail. He said, "It is I," and you don't catch the tone here, but when you look at it in the Greek, Jesus is leaning in, "Stop being afraid". Stop all that worrying. Stop all that fretting. You may be surprised by the length of your journey. You may be surprised by the challenges you face on your journey, but I am not.
But watch this next verse. "And Peter answered". In moments like this, when you know, God misses our timetable, and all the rest, this is when we get passive-aggressive, we start ignoring God, pretending he doesn't exist, ignoring the word, like, "I'm gonna do stuff my own way," but watch what Peter did, in the midst of the crisis, he answered. The journey didn't go as hoped, it was harder than he imagined, but Peter did not stop answering to God. And every now and then, I feel a temptation, "I don't feel like doing what you'll have me to do anymore, Lord".
And I feel I have an excuse because it was harder, it took longer. Maybe I'm tired of the people I'm in the boat with. I'm tired of my situation and I feel that that justifies me ignoring the voice of God. But when things don't go as planned, God is still God. And you gotta stop falling in love with your plans and fall in love with your God. Mm hm. Peter answered him and said, "Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water". Now this was a bold ask. And the disciples were probably, you know, like, "Oh there goes Peter again. Who does he think he is, ask Jesus," you know, "such things"? But if you're gonna do anything, anything great for God, you can't stay in the same boat as everyone else.
A few weeks ago, I had too many people in my ears that didn't know what they were talkin' about, and the Lord literally spoke to my heart and said, "Derek, stop listening to people that never done anything for me or you're gonna end up just like 'em". You need to qualify those that are speaking into your life. Okay, Jesus was successfully walking on water so he could tell Peter, "Come on and do what I do". But if you can't successfully do it, don't tell me to follow your advice, you hear what I'm sayin'? We need to qualify people... Opinions are a dime a dozen, everyone got one, thinks everyone else stinks, you hear what I'm sayin'? But Jesus, who was doing it, said, "Come".
Now listen, people have a right to their opinions, but when God's word is clear, I also have a right to ignore it. Mm hm. Y'all not sure to clap or say, "What"? All right. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, sometimes you gotta risk making a mistake. Sometimes you gotta risk being criticized. If you're not willing to risk business as usual, don't be surprised when your life ends up just ordinary. And when Peter came down out of the boat, he walked on the water. Now Peter only walked on the water because he was walking on God's word. And if you need to walk above a situation in your life that's trying to bring you down, you need to put a word on it, you need to hear God's word on it and hold it and stand on it. He walked on the water to go to Jesus.
This is important, if you want to be with Jesus, you're gonna need to follow his word. If you want to really know Jesus, be with Jesus, experience Jesus, you're gonna have to obey and follow his word. If he says, "Stop," stop. If he says, "Come," come. If he says, "Wait," wait. But watch this next verse, "But when he saw the wind was boisterous," he got his eyes off Jesus, onto the problem, onto the limitations, watch the results, "he was afraid". When he first stepped out of the boat, he was in faith. But what I wanna tell you guys is your longterm emotional state is not determined by your circumstances, but by your focus.
When he got his eyes off the word, that's when he got afraid. So are you focused on the size of your problem or the size of your God? Mm hm. "And beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me.'" God still hears us in his prayer. Just because you didn't get everything right doesn't mean God doesn't save. Now people can criticize Peter all they want, but they need to understand, at least he got off the boat. You know, the old folks used to say, "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll be amongst the stars".