Day 23: God's Goodness Never Fails!

He saw JESUS.

He answered HIS INVITATION.

"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward JESUS"*.

One step. Two steps...

"But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and,

 beginning to sink... "*

SINK!

And why did Peter sink?

For he took his eyes off of JESUS,

because he saw the wind.

Was he looking for the loophole,

because what he was experiencing was TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?

Hmm.

Did he FEAR the other shoe dropping, so he dropped it first?

Oh how I can relate.

For when I see JESUS walking on water in my life,

I am so overwhelmed by HIS GOODNESS, 

that I start to sink because

I FIX my eyes

on the wind.

Sounds crazy, right?

But at times when GOD parts the red sea in my life,

 I am overwhelmed by HIS GOODNESS,

that I prepare myself for the not so good to happen.

Sounds crazy, right?

Yet I become like the Israelites, who were set FREE,

but when they stand before the Red Sea, they forgot GOD'S GOODNESS.

"When trapped at the Red Sea, they asked Moses, "Didn’t we say to you in Egypt,

‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" (Exodus 14:11-12).

BUT GOD parts the RED SEA.

A MIRACLE.

They walk through!

The Egyptians not so lucky, who were swallowed up by the waters.

Now this is was time of REJOICING.

Was GOD TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, when DOUBT started to leek in again~

"When craving meat in the desert, they wailed, 'We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic!" (Numbers 11:4-6)..

Did they FORGET GOD'S GOODNESS and FORGET how their enslaved lives in Egypt?

Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

FEAR of FREEDOM. 

FEAR of RECEIVING FREEDOM.

FEAR of GOD'S GOOD, because of the FEAR of the other shoe dropping.

Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

Well it does. And it is.

So I guess I am crazy, because I so relate.

When GOD does part the Red Sea in my life, at times

the GOOD  becomes so overwhelming, that it is hard to RECEIVE,

for HE IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, for me.

Why me?

Hmm.

BUT then I think of the 40 years in the desert that the Israelites wondered and suffered because of their disbelief.

GOD gave then the GIFT OF FREEDOM,

but was it TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE to BELIEVE GOD.

Hmm.

Peter walking on water.

Was it TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?

Is GOD TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE that the lies of the enemy drown out

THE GOODNESS of GOD,

so that the "do not touch apple" sounds

TOO GOOD to pass up?

Hmm.

The apple of DOUBT. 

Peter saw the wind,

He was afraid.

He sank.

Was it GOD'S fault that he sunk?

No.

Did GOD allow it?

Oh yes, but HE allowed it because GOD gave Peter FREE CHOICE.

GOD gave Adam and Eve FREE CHOICE.

GOD gave the Israelites the FREE CHOICE to BELIEVE HIM.

And GOD gives me and you THE FREE CHOICE to BELIEVE HIM.

Ouch

So in my craziness, I see FREE CHOICE

TO BELIEVE GOD or NOT TO BELIEVE HIM.

Hmm.

Do I get out of the boat with my eyes FIXED ON JESUS,

and enjoy

HIS GOODNESS to walk on water,

because JESUS stands with HIS arms open wide and tells me to

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid”.*

Oh yes! For I don't have 40 years left to wander in the desert.

One step. Two steps. Three steps.

Pressing Forward. Forgetting what is behind. “Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, Now it will spring forth;Will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness,Rivers in the desert. For I am doing a new thing. I am making a way in the desert"

(Isaiah 43:19).

A NEW thing

A crazy NEW THING.

And when THE GOOD may feel uncomfortable,

 because it feels TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE,

there is only one CHOICE to CHOOSE~

CHOOSE TO BELIEVE that JESUS is THE GOOD ALWAYS!

So thank you Israelites for DOUBTING,

 even though you experienced a BREAKTHROUGH when the RED SEA parted.

I can relate.

So thank you Peter for DOUBTING,

even though you saw JESUS walking on water and you walked too.

For I can relate.

And I THANK GOD for being GOOD all the time,

for HE is not the enemy.

For what did JESUS do after Peter sunk and cried out to HIM to save him?

"Immediately JESUS reached out his hand and caught him.

“You of little faith,” HE said, “why did you doubt?” *(Matthew 14: 27-31).

FOR JESUS IS ALWAYS TRUE TO BE GOOD, 

even when the other shoe may drop.

Just ask John the Baptist, whose head ended up on a platter.

Hmm.

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10).

And all GOD asks is for us to

BELIEVE HIM and RECEIVE HIS GOODNESS

because

"GOD IS GOOD"

(listen to the song below)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Jc4DBbavrU