Thursday Fellowship – Bryan Pickard
We had a visit from Bryan Pickard today. Bryan’s talk about faith, centred around the story of Jesus walking on the water in Matthew 14.
The crux of what Bryan wanted to share was that yesterday’s news is yesterday’s faith! The disciples were still caught up with the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 and weren’t really looking for another miracle. So often we do that – we live in the past, but faith has to be lived in the here and now and needs to be freshly experienced.
Peter experienced the power and mercy of God. He was courageous, he believed, he enquired of Jesus and he finally responded positively to Jesus’s invitation to come!
What can we learn from this story and especially Peter’s response? Well, faith is strengthened through difficulties and adversities. At times the wind can turn against us even in a spiritual sense, yet we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Romans 8 v 28). Sometimes like Peter, Jesus permits us to step out into an unsafe place – but remember, He is with us! Peter would have learned some valuable lessons that day – do we?
We are all WIPs (Works in progress) and God loves to use imperfect vessels. The key is to keep our eyes on Jesus in every situation that we face.