focus focus focus

So here is the deal - Jason finally recorded and uploaded his songs. Now in my opinion, he has an impeccable ability to write songs that are simple yet profoundly deep. I know I know - I am probably bias, but listening to them has given me an overflow of thoughts. One song in particular really speaks to my heart. The song is entitled Everything But You and focuses on the story of Peter walking on water.

We can find the story of Jesus walking on water in Matthew 14, Mark 6, and John 6, but it is imperative to note that the anecdote of Peter is only mentioned in Matthew 14. Leading up to this miraculous event, Jesus is simply trying to find a place of solitude. Being the famous Son of God, thousands followed him, culminating in the feeding of the five thousand. Still in search of rest, he sent the disciples away and withdrew himself to pray. Later that night, he returns to his disciples while walking on water. Now I do not know about you, but if I saw a figure walking on water toward me I would fervently paddle the other direction. Apparently, the disciples felt the same way because fear paralyzed them as they yelled "it's a ghost!" By this point, I might just be forced to jump ship! To their surprise, Jesus declares, don't fear, it's me! Peter, apparently still unsure asks, "Lord if it is you tell me to come to you on the water." What an opportunity! As Jesus beckons him out onto the lake, Peter takes a great leap of faith. As he took a few steps on the water, he sees the wind. As his eyes shift from Jesus to the wind, fears seizes him and he begins to sink.

This part of the story is profoundly important. For the first few steps, Peter's gaze upon Jesus kept him afloat, yet one shift of focus and he began to drown. Can you sympathize with this? I know I can. Quite often things are going strong - we feel at the top of the game - and then we take our eyes of Christ. As our eyes shift we see the waves, the trees moving in the distance, the seashore that is almost out of sight. Maybe in our lives we have our focus on Christ and then we see that not everybody supports us, we are not the best, and we do not necessarily have the strength to press on. Whatever it may be, we rapidly begin to sink. Not because Jesus left us, but rather due to the fact that we left him.

Here comes the encouraging part. Peter cries out save me save me! I can only imagine the fear pumping in his veins, arms flailing as his fears materialize - all he can do is cry out to his Savior. Now Jesus has a few options. He could teach Peter a lesson, let him flail around for awhile and teach him not to loose focus. He could save him - only to chide him for being distracted. Luckily, Jesus chose a third option. He grabbed Peter saying "you of little faith, why do you doubt?" Jesus proceeded to return Peter to the boat.

For Peter, the boat was his comfort. This man made a living from fishing - he probably could not imagine life without the boat. That was his safe place. Yet he left his comfort zone to take a leap of faith - to walk on water. After loosing sight, Jesus returned him to safety. Is this not what God does in each of our lives? He beckons us out of our comfort zones all the while knowing that when we loose focus and drown, he will pick us up and put us back in the boat.

The difficulty lies in the fact that focus is not a one time decision, it is a daily choice to set our gaze upon Christ. It is the mindset of keeping our head in the game. So what is your "wind"? What is it that causes you to take your eyes off Christ? For me it is often doubt, like Moses I cry "but God I can't." What is that in your life? What is God beckoning you toward? Whatever it is, know that although we are fallible, God is not and just because we shift our gaze does not mean that God does.