OnFire #117 A Bad Hair Cut

Hi Folks. A special welcome to new OnFire readers that I signed up at our Baptist Convention meetings.

Its been a full couple of weeks. We had a wonderful time at our Convention assembly. This year focussed on racial reconciliation and featured Dr. Brad Paxton, who challenged us very powerfully. It was a moving time.

Our church had an outdoor worship service on the waterfront last Sunday. Man was it cold!! Wind from the northwest. Thankfully our church folks are great sports. We laughed a lot and shortened the service. This week we baptized two men. What a great service! It was neat to hear them talk about how God has been working in their lives.

Finally, I'm batching it this week. Jan and the boys are visiting in New Brunswick, so I'm on my own. In case some people wonder how I'll make out, I have the dishes washed, I did a dark load of clothes, and made bread (in the bread maker).

Blessings,

Troy

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Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:29-31)*

OnFire is all about faith and character, so my eye always catches passages like this one. "Why did you doubt?" That's a question about faith.

This is an interesting passage, for all sorts of reasons. There are parallel accounts in Mark 6 and John 6 where even the context is the same, but they do not mention Peter's attempt to walk on water. This was another one of Peter's blunders and he may have neglected to tell many others about the experience.

Why did Peter blow it? (Forgive the bad pun) As we examine the three passages, we see some insight into this.

Matthew provides the first factor. At the beginning of Matthew 14, we discover that John the Baptist was beheaded. You will remember that Peter was originally a disciple of John the Baptist (John 1). Death and loss (break-up, job, health) have a way of unhinging us. We end up "off kilter," as we said growing up on PEI (Don't ask me what a kilter is - I just know its not good to be off it). These things seem to suck the life out of faith.

Second, Peter was tired. It was late, or early, depending on your view. Matthew and Mark tell us that Jesus walked on the water during the fourth watch of the evening - between 3 and 6am. In addition, they had been rowing against a head wind for hours.

Some of my darkest battles of faith come when I am tired or exhausted. Normally optimistic, my mood sometimes turns when I am drained. I have a pastor friend who reminds us never to resign on a Monday (the end of a pastor's week) or in February. These are low points. We need to be careful in our low points because, just like Peter, the wind and waves look bigger than they are. Things always look better in the light of day.

I once did a congregational survey, and, anxious to see the results, I opened them on a Sunday afternoon. Big mistake. I wasn't emotionally and spiritually ready because I was tired. I have said before that sometimes the most spiritual thing I should do is get some sleep. That was yesterday for me. After several weeks of going non-stop, I was wiped out. Thankfully I had some things cancel and I was left with a free day. I turned off the alarm, slept until 8:30, and let myself veg out. I needed that.

In these accounts we see that victories in one area don't always translate into victories in other areas. Having witnessed healings, the miraculous feeding of the 5000 and Jesus' excursion across the water, Peter was primed and pumped to start, but not enough to finish. He climbed out of the boat, took some steps, but then became afraid when he "saw the wind." Here was Peter, a burly tough fisherman, used to a challenge, witness to miracles, but when it came to stepping on his own, unable. He started out, but his faith waned and he sank into the water.

We all have good intentions in our faith, and sometimes we even start out. We take those first few steps. We're astonished that it works. "We're doing it!" And then we have second thoughts. Someone criticizes us. We realize the cost of following Jesus. We listen to those voices that tell us, "But you can't do that." Wile. E. Coyote was always safe running off a cliff into thin air as long as he didn't realize where he was.

I'm not quick to judge poor Peter. I once tried a new hair style (back when I had hair - tells you how long ago it was) and let the hair dresser go about half-way when I bailed. She did her best to make something of it, but it wasn't great. How many times have I started something in my faith with good intentions, but then let something get in the way, or back down when I thought it might cause difficulty?

Our faith has to be more than a few steps made from good intentions. The proof of our faith is the follow through. To see the wind whip the crest off the waves, but continue anyway. To encounter difficulty but take another step because our eyes remain focussed on Jesus, not on the wind and waves.

I hope this helps. Be OnFire,

Troy

ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by Troy Dennis. To be added to or removed from the ON FIRE list contact him at onfire@eastlink.ca . Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com This letter published August 22, 2007. *All scripture references from the New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978 by the International Bible Society.