Oh no, never let go!

I don’t know if you are familiar with Matt Redman’s song “Never Let Go,” but it’s what has been playing through my mind all week. In church we are reading through the bible and hitting all the highlights and this week we come to the Miracle of Jesus walking on water. The passage is from Mathew 14 and has to do with a storm, a boat, and some very scared disciples. This being a season of miracles with Christmas upon us, I was intrigued to learn something new from this very familiar story. I am in my own personal storm right now and I need all the hope and encouragement I can get from the Word. These are the lessons God has taught me this week that I hope will be helpful to you as well. 1. Some storms in our lives are because we need correction. We have gotten off track and God is using the circumstances around us to bring us back to Him. Like Jonah, we are going our own way and He has to bring us back to what He asked us to do that we are running (or swimming!) away from. 2. Other storms are not for our correction, but for our perfection. It’s happening to us so that we can learn to depend on God, trust Him, and increase our faith which is what truly pleases Him. I love that Jesus speaks only one word to Peter. Just “come.” Peter obeys, but as soon as he takes his eyes off Jesus and looks at the storm brewing around him, he loses his faith and begins to sink. Jesus says to Peter, as He says to us many times, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt”? Remember Jesus doesn’t calm the storm before Peter gets out of the boat. He’s asking us to come to Him not just when we are riding on calm waters, but even more so in the midst of a storm. It’s through the storm where Jesus meets us and lifts us up above our fears, above our hurts, and above our circumstances and gives us a heavenly perspective. I am in a walk of faith right now, and as the song goes, “through the calm and through the storm” I am trying hard remember that He is the One who never lets go of me. The last thing I wanted to share is that the disciples didn’t recognize Jesus at first when He came to them on the water. They thought He was a ghost. Pastor Jon Courson teaches on this and says that many times Jesus comes to us through other people and we just don’t recognize Him. For me this week it was through a friend that let me cry on her shoulder as she hugged me and prayed over me. It was through my sister-in-law, Maggie, that called and gave me the hope of another miracle story in her friend’s life that so related to my own struggle.   Take a look around at your own life and see if you can see who is being Jesus to you this week. And, If you get a chance, listen to this song by Matt Redman, and let God remind you not to fear, for your God is with you and He will never let you go. Tami Powell Guests blogger