How to Do the Impossible

CHAPTER FOUR

How to Do the Impossible

“‘Lord, if it is you,’ Peter replied,
‘tell me to come to you on the water.’”

Matthew 14:28

M

iracles can and should happen repeatedly in our lives. Miracles — grand or modest, answers to prayer, blessings, or God’s intervention and involvement in our lives — ought to occur regularly. Furthermore, it is our responsibility to recognize them. Just because God cleverly slips miracles into the fabric of our everyday life so that they appear as coincidences does not mean they happen by accident.

Some of the miracles we need are God’s clever responses to impossible situations. Take the story of the storm when Jesus walked on the water to the disciples. The story of what happened next between Jesus and Peter reveals wonderful ideas about handling impossible conditions. Peter did the impossible — he walked on the water. We, too, can do the impossible when we recognize these principles. Additionally, this story helps distinguish between faith and presumption. It illustrates how prayer can lead to faith and how we can test our ideas so we avoid presumption.

Of all the messages I have presented, this one is more the result of sitting at the feet of Jesus, the Master Teacher, than any other; it is not the result of book research. I do not think I have ever heard anyone teach any of these ideas. Therefore, I take full responsibility if any part of this sounds too imaginative. However, the applications of these ideas have been a stabilizing force in my own life since July of 2002 as I do things I had never dreamed possible for me. What God showed me in Patankot of Northwest India through the following verses is extremely important to anyone who wants to do more for God. Here is the story from Matthew 14:28-32:

“‘Lord, if it is you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘Why did you doubt?’ And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”

This amazing story illustrates 12 significant principles of overcoming impossible conditions with miracles. I believe you and I both can increase our faith throughout the rest of this chapter as we re-live this experience with Peter. First, let me explain how God used these verses in my life.

Experience Reinforced after Learning the Theory

February 9, 2006 was the first day of an unexpected and strange series of events. That morning, I woke up with horrible pain in my left elbow. Unable to bear the agony, I sought medical treatment for what I learned was bursitis in my elbow. After the doctor aspirated the fluid from the elbow, infection set in. As that day came to a close, I had developed a debilitating case of cellulitis in my whole arm in addition to excruciating bursitis. Coincidentally, within a day or two, Char developed serious infections in the roots of two upper teeth dangerously near her brain. This caused her face to swell like a basketball with her eyes becoming just narrow slits.

Also on February 9, something even more significant happened that left our future completely suspended in mid-air. After eight months of talks, correspondence, meetings, board decisions, and discussions of job definitions, we had both been invited to take up new full-time missionary appointments with a Christian organization that has churches in 140 nations. They had invited me to coordinate the professional development of their missionary personnel and continuing education for the national pastors in those nations. Char was to have her own professional role. She would have taught missionary appointees and served as a consultant to the Bible colleges and institutes in those 140 nations. These exciting and challenging opportunities merged our academic work with full-time missions involvement. The organization repeatedly assured us the invitation was real. We were excited about our new opportunities, and I resigned my positions as Professor of Missions at Oral Roberts University (ORU) and as Associate Pastor for English Ministries at the Tulsa Chinese Christian Church.

The very same day I had my painful attack of bursitis, February 9, we got word that the new missions opportunities had been withdrawn. So as Char and I struggled with horrible physical pain, we also tried to process what appeared to be a major career reversal. When the notice came, we were stunned beyond description. Fine people whom we respect made decisions that enormously impacted us. Suddenly we were thrown into an impossible situation and an opportunity for God to do something immeasurably more than we could imagine. We no longer were gainfully employed and had no idea what the future held. Our boat had capsized and we weren't even thinking yet about trying to walk on water.

However, within a few days as we took our situation to the Lord, God began to point us in a new direction. Upon inquiry, we received an invitation to work with a networking organization in Africa that would enable us to focus on training Christian leaders throughout that great continent in seminars and lecture series similar to the ones we had already done. It looked like a good possibility, but we still needed God’s confirmation. If we were to move in that direction, we would have to "walk on water" in a number of ways. In Chapter Fourteen, you will read the rest of the story about our plans for a new ministry in Africa!

The following pages reveal scriptural principles that helped us as we left the boat and began to walk on the water as Peter did. In the drama and difficulties of transition that played out in the following months, the lessons of this Scripture passage were an enormous help to us. We learned, through experience, that the lessons of Peter walking on the water put our feet on the solid ground of the Word of God even when we were walking on the water. Now, let’s look at the 12 lessons.

Jesus walked on the water to the disciples in a storm. The story of what happened next between Jesus and Peter reveals twelve principles about how to handle impossible situations. Peter did the impossible—he walked on the water—and so can we when we recognize these principles. These principles can help us avoid the pitfall of too much caution on one side and the ditch of presumption on the other.

I Recognize The Lordship Of Jesus “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.”

Peter called Jesus “Lord,” but, more importantly, Peter really recognized Jesus as Lord. This is shown more by what we do, don’t do, or don’t do until we have permission than by merely calling Jesus “Lord.” Peter passes the test on all points, however. Here he calls Jesus “Lord” and then, by waiting until Jesus tells him to come on the water, demonstrates by his behavior that Jesus really was his Lord—his authority. We may call Jesus “Lord,” but if we are not doing what he says or avoiding doing what he says not to do, he is not our Lord.

II Be Willing To Take Initiative “Peter replied,”

Jesus identified himself to the whole boatful of disciples. They all had equal information: Jesus had come walking on the water to all of them in their boat. There were other disciples than just Peter in that boat.

Peter, however, unlike the other disciples, had an idea and took the initiative to ask if he could walk out to Jesus. That Jesus told him to come indicates that Jesus approved of Peter’s proposal.

God has made us creative. It is good to actively participate in ministry partnership with God. It is presumptuous to act on our own initiative without approval from the Lord, but it is not presumptuous to brainstorm, consider data, think, strategize, and propose ministry ideas and submit them to the Lord for his approval. Peter took the initiative and submitted his idea to his Lord.

III Avoid Presumption “Come,” he said.

Peter waited for Jesus’ instruction. Peter did not act on his proposal until Jesus indicated his approval. This demonstrates Peter’s submission to the Lordship of Jesus, even in the midst of the excitement of initiating a new, creative, bold, and daring idea—that he, Peter, would walk to Jesus on the water, by being willing to wait for the right time.

Later, on the other side of the sea, while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum, according to John 6, Jesus declined the opportunity to provide a miraculous sign for the crowd of Jews who asked for one. Jesus does not do needless miracles or signs just to do signs. He performs useful miracles—usually. Yet on this occasion, Jesus comes surprisingly close to performing a miracle which has a less apparent need.

God has personality, opinions, thoughts, plans, and feelings. Let’s not be presumptuous. We are dealing with the almighty God. God likes our creativity best when it is submitted to Him.

IV Be Willing To Leave The Safety Of The Boat. “Peter got down out of the boat.”

The boat illustrates the safety of normalcy. Boats are the usual way to travel on the water. Peter was willing to leave the safety of the normal, usual routine. He was willing to go alone on a new venture.

You can enjoy not only physical safety by staying with the normal flow of life in boats, but also psychological safety by remaining with the people there. You don’t stand out in the crowd when you are doing what the crowd is doing. Peter had the courage to leave both the physical safety of the boat itself and the psychological safety of the group in the boat. God may call on you to do that some day. Or, God may honor your initiative if you volunteer to try something new and daring for him. Are you willing to ask him? Are you willing to leave these two kinds of safety—usual behaviors and the crowd that does them?

V Follow Through With Intentions. “Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water. . .”

The word “intention” is an interesting word. It suggests that an action has been decided, but not yet executed. For some people, an intention is as good as action because they have well established the habit of doing what they think—executing intentions. In order to follow through with intentions, one has to put his “decider” in neutral and his “actor” on automatic pilot. We must learn to separate decision time from implementation time. I have learned to do that in running marathons. During the race is not the time to decide anything. You must persevere based on a previous decision. Peter had initiated a proposal, received permission, and next he followed through. There is nobility in initiating a bold plan, but there is greater nobility in executing it. Bless you, Peter, for showing how to do it.

VI Move Toward Jesus. “. . . and came toward Jesus.”

This story is written by Matthew who would have been in the boat with the other disciples. According to grammar rules, he should have said Peter “went” toward Jesus, but Matthew says Peter “came” toward Jesus. If grammar is a hint of Theological truth in this story, Matthew has his Christology correct. The action moves towards Jesus regardless of the geographical location from which the writer writes. Even though Matthew saw it physically from the boat and technically made a grammatical mistake by saying “came,” yet he wrote it with the correct centrality of Jesus—that the action was Peter coming toward Jesus.

Whatever we volunteer to do, we should move toward Jesus. As soon as Jesus is no longer the central character in our story, as soon as our ministry, project, service, or enterprise is focused on human accomplishment, pleasure, or gain, our story has lost the center around which all plots, drama, and colorful story-lines should revolve. We are mere servants and tools. The ministry is God’s, not ours. Keep Jesus at the center.

VII Be Willing to Have Your Faith Tested. “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid.”

This is a curious sentence. We do not see the wind; we see the effects of the wind. We see the leaves moving in the trees and we say we see the wind blowing in the trees, but actually we are only seeing the leaves in the tree move. The Bible even acknowledges this in John 3:8. “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.” Wouldn’t you expect Mathew to say it right in the Bible? Peter saw the waves caused by the wind, or the rain blowing in the wind, or the spray from the waves blowing in the wind, or the robe of Jesus blowing in the wind; he didn’t see the wind. Yet Matthew says that when Peter “saw the wind, he was afraid.” There are three lessons here.

One, the problem of the storm was the invisible wind which caused the visible waves. The waves were only the obvious or visible problem, but the wind was the real cause behind the visible cause. Our storms have visible, apparent aspects and invisible, real causes. If Matthew intentionally said Peter saw the wind, could it be a hint that in our storm we need to think beyond the material causes to the deeper, invisible, spiritual causes behind them? The invisible spirit world affects the material world. When we learn this, then we are ready to learn use spiritual tools to solve spiritual the difficulties that appear as material problems. If there is a spiritual reality working invisibly behind visible problems and spiritual solutions being implemented which make the physical problems seem to “disappear,” then it follows that there are no problems that are not spiritual. Every problem, small or great, can—and should—be a matter of prayer and victory, and, when satisfactorily resolved, can produce a testimony of God’s grace manifested among us.