Keep Your Eye On The Prize

"Keep your eye on the prize." ~  unknown

Matthew 14:22-33 tells about the incident of Jesus walking on the water.
I am going to paraphrase it for brevity.

The disciples were in a boat heading to the other side of the lake where Jesus was supposed to meet up with them later. A storm came up while they were crossing the lake, and the wind was fierce.

When they looked out across the waves, the Lord was walking on the water towards them.  They thought it was a ghost. The combination of the storm and thoughts of a ghost really shook them up.  Jesus called to them, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid". So, Peter called out, “If it is really you Lord, call me out there“. Jesus said, “Come.”

The short story says that Peter walked on the water towards Jesus. All of a sudden, he took his eye off the prize before him; he began to notice the wind and the waves; he was blindsided by fear and began to sink. Of course, Jesus pulled him up from the waves and into the safety of the boat.

This story reminds me of a wonderful couple in my church. The husband has had a series of health problems: high blood pressure, heart problems, and more.

One Wednesday night he ended up in the hospital in grave medical trouble. His pulse was dropping rapidly. His wife called the church to pray for him. Of course, we prayed right then.  One of the associate pastors jumped in his car and headed to the hospital, praying all the way.

Meanwhile at the hospital, the wife just kept praying and holding on to her faith in God. She watched on the heart monitor as her husband’s blood pressure continued to plummet. She kept praying and believing. She kept her eye on the prize; and as fast as it went down, her husband’s numbers went back up to near normal. By the time the pastor got there, his blood pressure had recovered and he was out of danger. Praise be to God!

That lovely little wife did not look at the “wind and the waves” of her husbands medical problem.  She kept looking to Jesus, she kept praying, she kept praising. She walked on the water that day!

“And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”  Psalm 50:15

Have a great day; and remember who and Whose you are.
Brenda Quimby Smith

"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." Jude v. 24