You'll take a risk for money. You'll take a risk for power. You'll take a risk for a relationship, but you won't bet on God. Dr. Tony Evans says that's the reason we don't see more of the miraculous in life.
If you want to walk on water, you got to get out the boat. Yeah. This is the alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Many people believe that trusting the Lord is too big a risk.
But today, Dr. Evans explains why faith is the safest move in the universe, even when circumstances challenge everything we see. Let's join him as he explains. Today, I want to take you to a well-known story, one we are all familiar with. And it's known because Peter is walking on water.
And in Matthew chapter 14, the situation is set up for us in verse 22. Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him. To the other side while he sent the crowds away. After he had sent the crowds away, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. And when it was evening, he was there alone.
But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost. And they cried out in fear. We have these disciples.
who are in a difficult scenario. A scenario in which Peter is going to take a risk. A risk is where you take a chance. without being assured of how things are going to work out. A risk-taking is a major part of life.
But it's interesting. How many people will take a risk in life who won't bet on God? They will risk things that people tell them. But who won't? Gamble on God in the sense of a risk where you are not absolutely certain how it's going to wind up.
In the Bible, many people had to take risks, they had to bet. On God while being uncertain about where things were going to wind up. The disciples R M a stormy situation while in the will of God. Jesus has told them to get in the boat and cross over to the other side. They get in the boat to cross over the other side.
So they are perfectly in God's will. They are obeying Him. They are doing exactly what He told them to do.
So this sermon today is particularly for those Who are seeking to please God? You are intentionally obeying God. You are doing exactly what God has told you to do to the best of your ability. You're not living in sin. You're not...
Living in unconfessed sin, you're not in rebellion, you're not walking away from God, and yet you're in a storm.
So, the first thing you need to know is you can be in the will of God and in a storm. at the same time. That's our situation. Verse 27. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take courage, it is I.
Do not be afraid.
Okay, so wait a minute. They're in a storm and they get a sermon. They see this figure coming to them. There's enough. Moonlight For them to see something walking on the water.
So we got 12 grown men screaming. They're scored. And Jesus says, Yeah. Don't be afraid. It is I.
They get a sermon. Peter said to him, verse 28, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. And he, Jesus, said, come. And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. Jesus gives a sermon to all 12.
He says, Don't be discouraged. It is I, be not afraid.
Now, remember now. All 12 are in God's will because all 12 are doing what God said. But Peter says, I want something more. I want to experience the miraculous because I want to walk on water.
Now you kids can't walk on water. That's a supernatural request. He makes a specific request. This is not general, Lord, bless me today. I want to walk on water.
He wants to walk on water because Jesus is walking on water. What kind of water is Jesus walking on? Stormy water. Because they're in a storm.
Now watch this. Jesus is coming to them on top of the problem they're in. He's not coming to them in smooth sailing, he's coming to them in a storm. The reason why they think it's a ghost is they're not looking for Jesus in a storm. One of the reasons Jesus allows you to be in the storm is for you to see what he looks like in a stormy situation.
One of the reasons he allows you in his will to go through a storm is he wants you to see him as you've never seen him before. See, it's easy and nice and sweet to see him in church, but when you see him walking on the storm. Watch this, and the storm is the problem.
So, God allows storms so you can see. how he uses your problems as a staircase for his presence. He actually uses the storm to walk on it.
So he's walking on the problem. Because the problem is a storm. Peter says, I want to walk on the problem too. You walking on the problem. I want to walk on the problem.
I want to know what it feels like. to walk on my problem. Rather than my problem walking on me. And he's in the will of God.
So he gets out of the boat. Mm. Guess what? Peter is walking on water. Yeah.
The water is the problem. It's a storm.
So what is Peter doing? He's walking on his problem. Because he's walking on a stormy situation. But something goes wrong. Versus Yeah.
But seeing The wind. He became frightened and began to sink. He cried out, Lord, save me. Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and took hold of him and said to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt?
So He went from big faith, because he got out the boat. Too little faith. in the matter of seconds. How do you go from big faith that gets you started to little faith that's about to drown you? Focus will determine fear.
Faith. And faith or faithlessness will determine Yeah. He lost his faith because of the growth of fear, but fear only grew because faith diminished, and faith only diminished because focus was shifted.
So, if you want decrease in fear, you need to have an increase in faith. But in order to have an increase in faith that brings demotion to fear, you've got to have a shift in focus because your focus will determine your faith, and your faith will determine your fear.
So, if you want to get rid of your fear, grow your faith by shifting your focus. It is the focus. That is the key. When he shifted his focus to his circumstance. Fear grew.
Faith diminished. He went from great faith to little faith. Because He let The circumstance trumped the Savior. It is a matter of focus. Which is why praise is so important because praise shifts your focus.
In a basketball game, when the Mavericks play, if you're sitting on the ends where the goals are, You go to those seats and they will have in those seats a placard. in the shape of a brick. It's called a brick. And so when they come up, when they've been fouled, and the other team comes up to shoot free throws. Everybody stands up with the placard and waves the brick sign, the brick.
Hundreds of people waving the brick. You know why they're doing that? To distract them. As he's at the free throw line shooting, they want to distract him. And so they're shouting and waving brick, because a brick is when you miss the basket.
And so they're waving the brick to try to distract him. But you will see the pros.
Now pay attention to the bricks. or to the people. Waving the bricks. because they're focused on the goal. And so they shoot.
With the goal in mind, in spite of the fact that there's a whole crowd trying to shift their focus so they will miss. The devil has demons and he has people. who waving a brick sign in front of your face. Because they want to distract you from focusing on the goal, which is the savior, so that you miss the shot. of seeing a miracle go through the hoop of your life.
So that you miss the shot of what God wants to do and wind up yourself sinking in your circumstances. They want you to throw up a brick. They want you to miss what God wants to do. That's why there are all these distractions that are coming in in the middle of your circumstance to suck you under and to keep you from walking on it rather than it sucking on you. You want the miraculous?
You want to walk on water? Because some of us, our miracle is not something changing. Our miracle is not drowning in it. Cause it's just sucking you under. He cries out, Lord, save me.
Okay, so why would God let me drown? God will let your circumstances pull you under because He knows that's the only way He's going to get you to refocus.
So he'll let you go under a little bit. He's trying to get you to do what Peter did. He'd have looked at the waves. He looked at the wind. He looked at all his bad stuff.
He began to go under. He knew he couldn't swim and save himself.
So he knew he only had one other option, and that was to go back to the one who told him to leave the boat in the first place.
So he says, Lord, save me. And Jesus said, that's what I was waiting for: wound. Dr. Evans will tell us how we can experience a rescue every bit as dramatic as Peter's when he continues our message in just a moment. First though, don't miss your chance to get a copy of Tony's current series, Believing is Seeing.
It explains why most of us have an upside-down view of how faith affects our reality. In these eight lessons, you'll discover ways to see more of God's supernatural influence in your life, how to experience more of heaven on earth, how to avoid losing trust when times get tough, and much more. And if you contact us right away, we'll also include Dr. Evans' brand new devotional and prayer guide, Anchored by Faith, 180 days of scripture-based encouragement designed to help you stay steady and confident in God no matter what you're facing. For a limited time, we're offering all eight messages in the Believing is Seeing Sermon series, along with your own copy of Anchored by Faith.
They're a thank you gift for your contribution in support of the alternative. Visit tonyevans.org. Make your donation online. And let us send you this special package today. Again, that's tonyevans.org.
Or call us at 1-800-800-3222, where Resource Team members are standing by 24-7 to help you. That's one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two.
Well now let's get back to our message. Here's Dr. Evans. When I was young, I was a terrible asthmatic. Every week I had to leave school and go to the hospital.
to get shots. They didn't have things as sophisticated as they have now. And I'd leave and I'm trying to play three sports, baseball, football, on the swimming team.
So I was constantly battling asthma. Every week I had to go, well, I transferred that. To my son Anthony.
So Anthony battled severely, particularly as a young kid, a lot better now, but as a young kid with asthma. And like me, he would be struggling to breathe.
So we'd have to take him to our doctor, Dr. Denny. for an epinephrine shot to open up his lungs. Dr. Denny, when it was time, to give him a shot as he struggled.
Pulled out a drawer. with a lollipop. While Anthony was focused on the lollipop, the doctor would come around and give him a needle pop. Because he was focused on the lollipop. Go POW!
So Anthony goes, Pop! Cause the needle hurt him.
So now things have gotten worse. We started with asthma.
Now we got a needle in our arm and I'm hurting. Ah Ah! In the midst of his pain, he remembered his pop. When he remembered his pop He went back to that power. As the medicine set in to open up his lungs because the sugar.
In the pot. Became sweeter than the problem that brought him there.
Somebody said, He's sweet, I know. And if you ever remember the Lord Jesus Christ in the pain of your problem, you will discover ain't nothing but sugar in the Savior. He will give you the ability to meet it. and walk on it. even when he has not changed it, so he can give you victory on top of it.
It's a shift of focus. Doesn't change the pain. I'm not saying it's not painful. I know it is painful. But God wants you to focus on Him because of what He plans to do.
A poem reads, there was a very cautious man who never laughed or played. He never risked, he never tried, he never sang or prayed. And when he one day passed away, his insurance was denied. For since he never really lived, they claimed he never died. You'll take a risk.
for money. You'll take a risk for power. You'll take a risk for a relationship, but you won't bet on God. You want a financial miracle, but you won't believe God when it comes to your giving. You want a relational miracle, but you won't give the relationship you yourself want.
You want God to do a miracle. But you won't place your bet. You want the miracle first, not the walking first. And remember, God's got a seat of faith. Before the miracle.
Not get the miracle and then exercise the faith because then you're exercising by sight. And faith is based on what you do not see.
So God is waiting to see you walk. Before you get to work. on the miracle. And how does this Conclude. Jesus stretches out his hand.
He says, Why do you have little faith? You got a little bit. But you're sinking with a little... When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. Yeah.
And those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, you are certainly God's Son. You know why God does the miraculous?
So you can see who he really is.
So that you can see, this ain't no ordinary person you dealing with here. Jesus is not just a regular guy. He's not just a superhero. He's not just a great religious figure. If you want to walk on water, you got to get out the boat.
Well, you'll be like the other 11. You'll be in the boat. Listening to a message. And never be able to testify. You know, all they could do was piggyback off of Peter's testimony.
They couldn't talk about the day I walked on water. They could only talk about the day I saw my brother walk on water. And after a while, you should be tired of hearing other folk testimony because you want a testimony that is your own. Where you can say yes. Yes, I heard the sermon, but I stepped out the boat.
I heard the message, but I went to walking and stepping, and I saw what God could do. Or else all you'll be able to do is report. on somebody else's report card. Because you don't have a report card. Of your own, where you've stepped out.
I have a brother in the church during Pastor Appreciation Month. He wrote me a note. He said, I heard the series on Nehemiah. God had been prodding me to do something different with my life. When I heard that series, I took a step out based on the word of God because I didn't just hear the sermon, I heard it talking directly to me.
I took a risk. It cost me a lot to take this risk, and God has exploded that thing into something that I never knew could happen, but it didn't happen until I heard the word, and then I stepped out based on it. And it has transformed my life. You're waiting on God as God is saying, Well, hurry up because I'm waiting on you. To move in faith.
Then you will see what I can do. And not until a boy one day was in a. Plane and the plane was in turbulence and a big storm and everybody screaming and hollering and the boy is playing in his seat. He's playing in his seat. The lady beside him is getting all frustrated.
Boy, how can you be playing at a time like this? How can you be playing at a time like this?
Well, my father's in the cockpit. See, when you know who's under the controls, you can handle the turbulence a lot differently than when you don't know who's in the cockpit. And I love the way this story is. By the way. Uh Hebrews 12 too?
Says Jesus is the author and finisher of your faith. The originator and the completer. He gets you out of the boat. And he leads you on the water to back in the boat. He doesn't get you started with something, he doesn't intend on finishing.
Jesus, Hebrews 12, 2 says, is the author and finisher of your faith.
So, if you stick focused on him, he will get you started and bring you to completion. And I like how this story ends. The story doesn't end here. This story is found in This passage, Mark chapter 6, is found in John chapter 6. In John 6, 21, which tells you the same story, it says, immediately when Jesus got in the boat, they were at dry land.
Okay, I don't know if you're I don't know if you got that. They are stuck in the middle of the sea, the Galilean Sea. They are stuck there. Remember, the wind is contrary, so they're not making any progress. They're not going anywhere.
Jesus is walking on water. Peter goes out to meet him. He and Peter walk back to the boat. They get in the boat. John 6, 21 says, and immediately when they got in the boat, they were at dry land.
Let me tell you something about Jesus. When Jesus finishes doing what he's trying to do in your life, it don't take that long. It says, immediately God covered the distance that they were in lack, unable to cover. Whenever you get this thing right with God, he can turn it on a dive. He can tweak it overnight.
He can flip it, tweak it. Flapping. He can do something with it that'll blow your mind, and all you'll be able to say is, where in the world did that come from? I don't know how. That just happened because the God I'm talking about can turn it on a dime.
So I'm asking you to place your bet. Oh, by the way, I don't know if you know it, but a turtle can only make progress when it sticks its head out. See, if it keeps its head in, it ain't going nowhere. In order for it to go somewhere, it got to stick its head out.
So I'm inviting you to stick your head out and take a risk on Jesus Christ and believe that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. If that good work has never begun in you, If you're ready to take the risk doctor Evans was talking about, he's here now to tell you more about it. The greatest need in all of our lives is for the forgiveness of sins. And there's only one person who can do that. That's Jesus Christ.
That's why he died on the cross and rose from the dead. And he offers forgiveness of sins. If you carry a guilt, for what you've done, Fear, for what you've done. Jesus Christ. is right here right now.
If you go to him, Confession. Your sinfulness to him. And try. Trust him to forgive you. He will do it on the spot and also grant you eternal life.
Find out more about what it means to have a personal relationship with Christ. Visit tonyevans.org. And follow the link at the top of the home page that simply says Jesus. Dr. Evans has posted a video there that explains God's plan of restoration.
And you'll find some additional follow-up resources as well.
So drop by tonyevans.org today to find out more. And while you're on the website, if you'd like to get a full-length copy of today's lesson, it's available as a part of the current eight-message series from Dr. Evans called Believing is Seeing. In these messages, you'll discover ways to reinforce your faith and see more of heaven's power on display. This special collection also includes bonus material we won't have time to present on the air.
And for a limited time, along with the Believing is Seeing audio series, we are also including Dr. Evans' brand new devotional and prayer guide, Anchored by Faith. 180 days of encouragement and scripture-based prayer to help you stay steady and confident in God. no matter what comes your way. This exclusive resource bundle is our thank you gift for your contribution to help support this broadcast.
Make the arrangements before time runs out. By visiting TonyEvans.org or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222. It's open 24-7. That's one eight hundred eight hundred three two two two.
When we're stuck in difficult circumstances, We'll often call on God to help get us out. But Dr. Evans says, even when the storms of life are getting worse, we may be right where God wants us. Find out more when you join us tomorrow.
