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In life there are always various things calling for your attention. Many times they are storms. Matthew 14: 22-33 paints a picture many of us can relate to. The disciples were stuck IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SEA. They were HALFWAY THROUGH THEIR JOURNEY, and in deep trouble. They were TOSSED BY THE WAVES, mentally TORMENTED, TESTED and STRETCHED, and THE WIND WAS CONTRARY to where they were trying to go. Then, in the darkest hour just before dawn, Jesus appeared, walking on water. Most of the disciples thought He was a ghost, but Peter heard the Lord say “It is I.”

What do your eyes see when you are stuck in the midst of a tough situation, working hard but making no progress, and all of a sudden, something is coming towards you? You can have one of TWO REVELATIONS. You can see with fear like the disciples, and declare, IT IS A GHOST coming to destroy you. Or, you can see through the eyes of faith, and recognize IT IS JESUS, the One you can trust.

Sometimes when Jesus shows up in your life, you don’t recognize Him. Things have been going wrong for so long, you assume it is the enemy. But not everything that scares you is the devil. What you think is the devil may actually be God coming to your rescue. It all depends on your focus.

In the midst of a storm there are TWO IMAGES you can focus on:

1. THE COMING STORM full of CHAOS, or

2. THE OVERCOMING LORD, which brings CALMNESS.

While the disciples are busy focusing on it being a ghost, Peter says, “Lord if it is You, command me to come to You.” What Peter is looking for is something that will bring him closer to Jesus. He didn’t simply want to walk on water for performance sake. He wanted to be closer to Jesus, and it was in getting closer to Him, that Peter was also able to walk on water.

If you don’t want to get close to Jesus, then you won’t be able to walk over that situation, but if you focus on Him, He will put the situation under your feet.

There are 4 Aspects of Jesus to focus on:

1. THE PERSON OF JESUS (Heb 12: 1-2)—Remember, we are called Christians after Jesus, not after Moses, or John, or any other figure in this world. Neither your pastor, nor any prophet can cause you to walk on water, for they are not Jesus.

2. HIS PRESENCE (Matt 28: 28)—Even when you don’t recognize Him, He is with you always, so look for His presence in your situation.

3. HIS POWER. (Col. 1: 15, 17)—There is no storm more powerful than Jesus. He is before all things. He created all things, and all things exist through Him.

4. HIS PROMISE (John 16: 33)—Jesus said to Peter, “Come”. It was a word of promise in the midst of chaos.

What we learn from Peter is this:
When you fix your eyes on Jesus,

1. You become BRAVE, COURAGEOUS and BOLD.

2. You gain MASTERY over the situation.

3. You gain INTIMACY with the Lord.

Everybody has storms, and sometimes the wind blows hard against your efforts. Whatever contrary winds have hit you in life, if you FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS, He will give you victory. The storm may remain, the debt will still be there, the problem will not necessarily change, but you can have peace that is greater than the storm and walk on that situation which you feel will drown you.