Walking on Water
And was just a little disappointed that God didn't answer my prayer. He showed me two things through that: 1.) He will enable me to walk on water when I need to walk on water. 2.) I can't just make up my mind to walk on water. My determination can be as granite-solid as the mountains, but Jesus is the One who enabled Peter to walk on the water, and He is the only One who can help me walk on water. I cannot do it based on my own strength of will.
Today I was struck by the contrast between my own imperfect humanity... and how much above me is the Lord. It's funny, because I prayed specifically for humility today. And the Lord delivered in spades.
He reminded me of my own imperfections, my short-comings, how very, very far I am from doing anything under my own power... and then He sent me to Hebrews 12:1-2: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
He authored my faith. That, to me as an author, connects with me so strongly. As an originator of stories, forming a complete story out of nothing at all is an enormous process. It takes building and honing and sanding and shaping and patience and endurance and re-starting and hours and hours and hours of planning. It blows my mind that God does all this on just me, much less on every single person who chooses Him.
And then, He perfects it. I will never measure up, not even if I lived past Methuselah's ancient 969 years (the guy was almost a thousand years old, y'all. That blows my mind. That's a lot of time to get things right. But even he wasn't perfect).
He reminded me of my own imperfections, my short-comings, how very, very far I am from doing anything under my own power... and then He sent me to Hebrews 12:1-2: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
And then, He perfects it. I will never measure up, not even if I lived past Methuselah's ancient 969 years (the guy was almost a thousand years old, y'all. That blows my mind. That's a lot of time to get things right. But even he wasn't perfect).
God perfects my story. With a simple act that means everything, He covered my sins, opened the veil of the temple, and brought me into the throne room of heaven when I accepted His work on the cross as payment for my sins. He perfects me. He perfects me. He perfects me. I love that.
And then He took me to Romans 8:37-39: "No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
He makes us strong, He makes us conquerors. We cannot hold onto Him ourselves; our grasp is too weak, but He perfects our grasp and brings us into that relationship with Him. I'm so thankful!
And then He took me to Romans 8:37-39: "No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
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