Then Peter called him: Lord, if it really is you, command me to go to you walking on the water. (29) Yes, come, "said Jesus. Then Peter climbed down the side of the boat and walked on the water towards Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and waves, he became terrified and began to sink. Matthew 14: 28-29
Pedro lost the focus. Instead of fixing his eyes on Christ and walking towards him, he decided to look at the wind and the waves: "he became terrified and began to sink". Sometimes it happens to us. God calls us, to follow his call requires trust, but if instead of looking at him and focusing on him, we look at the adversities that contradict his call, we are terrified, and we begin to sink. Peter had several points to look at, 1) the storm 2) the long road he had to follow until Jesus 3) Jesus.
The storm is coming: the adversities, a complete scene arranged by Satan to make the call of God seem incoherent, and that is what Peter looked at, immediately his mind was overwhelmed by the wind and the waves, and it is logical. Imagine in the middle of the ocean standing on the water having a great storm, focusing on these things will only lead us to sink, that is, if in the middle of your problem, whatever it is, you begin to look and analyze everything bad, to do a list of "bad things that have happened to me", discouragement will not take long to arrive, we will have blurred, we will not feel lost and overwhelmed, because we made our world problems by focusing on them and excluding God. To look at the adversities is to defocus. To defocus is to look at something that is not necessary, that is, to waste time; to lose everything we could have done for Christ in that time that we decided to use for complaints and laments. DO NOT blur, look to God, the problems will not disappear by not looking at them, but they will not give us the solution either. God yes.
The long road that had to follow until Jesus could have been the point of defocus of Pedro. Adversities persuade us to evade the present, to reject the call because "you have to do this and the other" or "I do not have how to do it", but "the long way" is: "this and that could happen". That is, to look at the adversities that "prevent us from moving forward" is a fool, but to stop for what might happen is shameless. God calls us, and there is a long path ahead, but he will provide everything necessary and give us the strength to move forward. Do you think God wants to call you and then leave you adrift? If God calls, God provides. The only thing that we must put is dedication and trust, because even the forces are going to give them to us. Do not look at the long road, nor the adversities that it brings, look at the goal, look at Christ, and if he does so all the time, When he wants to look again at the storm, he will have disappeared, because he will have reached his goal.
Jesus calls us, and to be focused on him is the most wonderful thing in the world. Looking at him all the way will keep us busy so we can waste our time unfocusing ourselves. When facing each situation, Christ will present the necessary tools to move forward, and the main one, which we put, is trust. When there is a problem we look to Christ to see what he wants us to do, and if we do not perceive an answer it is because he will solve it himself; there is no need to worry or worry. He has the solution. Let's look at the grace and mercy of God and walk confident that it is he who sustains us.
Now, there are flaws that we usually have, including doubt and anxiety.
The doubt was Peter's failure, caused by looking in the wrong direction.
In verse 31 of Matthew 14, we see that, after reaching out to save him, Jesus asks him this question that is for everyone: "Why did you hesitate?" Why do we doubt? Why do we doubt knowing we are children of Almighty God? Why do we doubt if we know that he loves us, and that if we love him all things will work for good? God has power to save us from any situation, but sometimes it is necessary that we face them and whenever we have a test it is for edification, it is the reason why we should be happy for them, because once overcome, we will be better people; God loves us and will not allow anything that we can not bear, we know, we also know that everything that happens is our life, although it is not very pleasant, it works for good, in the same way that a puzzle piece is not attractive until it is joined to the others and ... what a work of art! We know all this and we still doubt because we are out of focus, because we know, but we are not fully aware of it; There is a big difference between knowing and being aware. There are many things that we "know" but it is useless if we do not know how to apply them in our life, that is what wisdom consists of, and God tells us that if we need it, we can ask for it. Let's ask for wisdom! And let's replace it with doubts.
Eagerness can also be very harmful to our spiritual lives. To remain too "busy" to pay attention to the really important things, to the things that really are our duty, is a big mistake. To worry about the things of the world is foolish. And trying to solve problems by our own means is worse. Proverbs 3: 5 says: trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. God reminds us, that nothing we can do without him, that when our lives are turned into chaos, a mess, an impossible knot, it is because we try to depend on our own understanding, God tells us to trust him, to ask for his direction, and if he says so he will not reject us, Psalm 32: 8 says: I will guide you on the best path for your life, I will advise and watch over you, let's seek this help from God! in fact Pedro looked for it, there in the middle of the storm when he realized that he was not going to be able to just say: "Lord, save me", he did not give a long speech, only a sincere request, and if we continue reading, he says: Immediately, Jesus reached out and grabbed him. God will not leave us alone, we will call and answer, but never, never, let's try to get him out of our plans because they will go down. He is the one who has the answers, he is the one who has the solution, only he knows what is "the best path for our lives" and that is why he wants to guide us, we do not wait to begin to sink, to seek the direction of the Father.
In the midst of the difficulty, the focus is extremely important. Do we look at God or problems? The solution is not to ignore them, nor to go against them with all our strength, is to face them at the hand of God.
The first step is to be unconcerned; the second step is to pray, to express to God all that happens to us and what afflicts us, to put before us our needs, whether physical, spiritual or emotional, none of our problems is insignificant for Him, because He loves us; the third step - that goes into prayer - is to thank, thank God for everything, remember that everything, everything, every circumstance in our lives, even the smallest detail, was put or allowed by God, who gives us the wonderful assurance that they will work for good, that every detail contributes to the fulfillment of their purpose although now we do not understand it, but it is not necessary to understand it, it is necessary to trust. After being unconcerned, praying and thanking, see what happens, read Philippians 4: 6-7.
How can you take this learning to practice? There is an answer for each life. Meditate on reading, and you will find yours.
