What to Do When God Gives You a Hard Command

What God teaches us in one area of life we can easily miss in another area. So God has to repeat Himself. But sometimes the connection isn’t so easy for us to make.

(Photo: Waves crash ashore on the Sea of Galilee. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

Jesus performed more miracles in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee than any other place in His ministry. Standing on its shores, one can easily see across the shallow lake. The hills to the east and west tower above the water. As cool air from these heights rushes down the slopes into the lake’s warmer basin, winds can whip up the surface of the water to deadly proportions.

A small craft, such as the one Matthew reported the disciples clung to during a stormy night, could find itself foundering in an instant.

In one day, Christ taught His disciples a simple truth we should never forget.

Empowered to Do an Impossible Command

Jesus told the apostles to cross the Sea of Galilee without Him. As they did, a tremendous storm threatened to swamp the boat. To make matters worse, when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water toward them, they thought He was a ghost! But Jesus told them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid” (Matt. 14:27).

Peter replied, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

Jesus said, “Come.” And Peter did it—through the enabling power of Jesus.

Same Lesson All Over Again

Almost as incredible as Peter’s walking on the water was Jesus’ rebuke when Peter sank. Peter was the only other person besides Christ to ever walk on the waves, and Jesus told him he had little faith!

Why? Because Peter had little faith compared to what he knew. What did he know? Just hours earlier on the shore, Jesus had given Peter and the disciples an equally impossible task in feeding the 5,000: “You give them something to eat” (v. 16).

And they did—through the enabling provision of Jesus.

(Photo: Sea of Galilee waves and clouds. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

Two Places, One Lesson

That day, Christ taught His disciples—in a variety of locations—a single truth we also should never forget. We must come to Him not only by requesting provision, but also by stepping out in faith, believing that He has provided all we need to obey Him.

Has Jesus given you a hard command—even an impossible one? Think about how you can apply to that part of your life the lessons you easily apply in others. Likely, it’s the same lesson.

The storm we face today is only an opportunity for God to reveal His faithful character—and to develop ours.

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