Eyes on, eyes off

So I have been interning at my church and it has been an amazing experience so far. I know this is a passion God has put into my life for a reason because I just light up with I hang out with and talk to these youth- especially the girls. Today I went to a 8^th grade girl pool party and it was so much fun, I was asked to share a devotion and in that preparation and while talking to the girls God really spoke to me. I talked about trust/doubt/satisfaction. I used Proverbs 3:5-6 on trust, Matt 14:31 for doubt, and Psalm 145 for satisfaction.

However when I was looking at the Matthew 14 passage it is the passage where Jesus' disciples are in the boat with a storm and Jesus comes walking on water towards them… and then Peter steps out of the boat to go walk to Jesus. Peter had his eyes completely focused on Jesus when he started towards him…and he was walking on water! But then all of a sudden Peter realized the circumstances around him and saw the raging sea. He took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink… Peter looked back to Jesus and cried to Him… Save me! Jesus IMMEDIATELY reached out His hand to save Peter from drowning.

You know what…Peter was completely alright walking on water- (with God's power!) - when he had his eyes focused on Christ…but when he looked at the circumstances around him he began to sink and slip away from Jesus. He allowed his circumstances to overwhelm him and not let the power of Christ dwell within him. So then he cried out for Jesus to save him- and what gets me is Jesus immediately saved him. Jesus didn't allow Peter to drown or he didn't wait a couple of minutes to teach him a lesson or anything—it was immediate. Peter cried help and Jesus was there to pull him out of his circumstance. Peter needed Jesus.

We are such in need of a Savior…the circumstances of life can overwhelm us if we are not focused on Christ. When we are focused on Christ then we have such a connection with Him and use His power that is within us to accomplish the impossible…but once we lose focus…we lose that power and we drown. As long as we recognize we need Jesus we can be saved.

So how about we trust Jesus enough that we don't take our eyes off of Him. He can take care of our circumstances and at the same time we are being filled with His presence. That connection with Jesus will be like nothing we have ever felt…and once we have that- we cannot let doubt overwhelm us and allow ourselves to take our eyes of Jesus. Let's keep our eyes on Him no matter what…no matter what. – however if we do slip and start to drown- do not wait to cry out for help- cry out to be saved before you get underwater. . . cry out to be saved and never go back down.

Keep your eyes on Christ.