If It Is You
Do you now, or have you ever, had difficulty knowing whether the Lord Jesus is speaking to you? Maybe due to lack of practice in prayer and quiet time, His voice is unfamiliar. Maybe there are just too many voices. It has become hard to distinguish the Lord’s voice from others, like the news, social media, friends and/or enemies. So many voices coming at you that hearing from the Lord is hard to do.
If this is the predicament you find yourself in today, I suggest following the apostle Peter’s lead to solve it. In Matthew’s gospel, chapter 14, we find the account of Jesus walking on the water. In the account we know that the disciples were in a boat headed across the Sea of Galilee. They were sent ahead by the Lord and He followed them, walking on the water! Well, of course, once the disciples saw the form walking close by in the middle of the lake they concluded that it was a ghost. What else were they to think?
It was at this point in the account where we see Peter act in his typically bold manner. After Jesus reassured the men that it was in fact Him walking out there, Peter was unconvinced. Whether due to distance from the boat or just straight blindness out of fright, the disciple could not tell if it was his Teacher who he heard. So he responded, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come” was the reply. What else was Jesus to say? It was Him! Peter had faith to step out of the boat and walk on the water. But he would not make it to Jesus. His faith faltered and he began to sink. This is where we get Peter’s secret to knowing if the Lord is speaking to us. You see, Peter was still not absolutely sure that Jesus was the form out on the water. Yes, the form had bidded him to come. But any spirit could have done that. It was in Peter’s sinking and his cry, “Lord, save me!” when he absolutely knew that it was the Lord Jesus to whom he was speaking. “Jesus reached out His hand and caught him.” At this point Jesus was not only walking on the water but He was now carrying another man on the water!
This account of Peter acting in a stretch of faith shows us that sometimes the fastest way to know you are hearing from God is to get in a little trouble. Staying in the boat is safe. Remaining in the boat will not exercise your spiritual faith. Stepping out of the boat into realms uncharted to do something that is against natural law, that will indeed build spiritual muscle. Remember that all the disciples were following the direction of the Lord. He instructed them to go across the lake in the boat. They were all obediently following through on Jesus' command. But it was only Peter who audaciously stepped out in faith to accomplish something beyond the directed task.
Now, for clarification, I am certainly not suggesting we test God. But Peter was not testing. He was simply following the Lord’s lead. It was Jesus who was out on the water. Peter was just joining Him, and it was in the joining, in the stretch of faith, where Peter understood for sure that the Lord Jesus was speaking to him.