Who Do You Think You Are?

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

There was a time when Jesus was sleeping soundly in a boat in the Sea of Galilee a great storm arose. His disciples who were also in the boat were so fearful, they woke Him up and asked Him why He didn't care that they were perishing. Jesus woke up not because of the dangerous storm, but because of His disciples' concern. At the end He rebuked the storm and there's perfect peace in the sea - Matthew 8:23-27.

But there was another time that when His disciples were in a boat in the Sea of Galilee experiencing great storm in the darkest night, He saw them struggling from the mountain, walked down from the mountain, literally walked on water to the boat of His disciples without even commanding the storm to cease - Matthew 14:22-32.

Do you notice that in both incidents Jesus told them not to be fearful? He taught them not to be fearful and to have faith. Obviously in these contexts it's not about faith for eternal life in Himself (though this is true), but it is faith in Him as their saviour even in the midst of the storm.

Storm could happen outside us, but let not storm happen inside us. Jesus slept in the boat in the middle of the storm as He knew Who He is, He's the King of kings, nothing can harm Him.

There are some interesting revelations that He showed His disciples that we can learn from. The first time He showed them Who He was by commanding the storm and even the storm obeyed Him. He's God over the storm & the sea, this is Who He always is. He showed His disciples His identity so they could trust Him.

But learning process goes on. He didn't just stop at revealing Himself. Let's look at the 2nd story. Why He didn't immediately just commanding the storm to cease in the 2nd incident? Anyway that storm threatened His beloved disciples, didn't He care about them?

More than just effective solutions, quick fix in our live, He wanted us to feel secure in Himself. He just walked on water in the storm. What happen when the feng shui (Chinese : wind & water) are not in our favour? Jesus showed them that He's above all. He even used the threat to walk on toward His disciples.

If He immediately rebuked the storm again, His disciples would never learn to walk by faith. Their sense of peace would still anchor in the outside reality. Jesus offered them another reality (which is Himself) even in the midst of the scary reality they were in, and His message is still the same, "Don't be afraid".

Peace is not the absence of the problem, but it's His peaceful presence even in the midst of the problem.

And this is the interesting thing, in that moment Peter learnt trusting Jesus more as he confronted his doubt with Jesus. All of Jesus' disciples thought that they saw a ghost walking on water. Jesus calmed them down by saying that it was Him. Peter said if that's Him, asked him to walk on water which Jesus said,"Come".

If Jesus wanted to teach about how great He was as He was God, He was above the storm, etc, then He wouldn't need to grant Peter's request. He could just replied,"Peter, do not put the Lord your God to test." or "Are you crazy? Don't you know that no man walk on water? You're irrational. You're bound by the law of nature!" Just by rebuking the storm & walking on water, and do other miracles would be sufficient to show how great He was.

But more than just that, it's a story about how we draw our identity from. In fact Who gives us identity. Who are we truly? Are we who we think we are? Are we who what people say we are? Or are we who God says we are?

Are we defined by the natural courses, by our reaction to it, or by our feeling & thought? Where do we build our confidence on? Is it by the strength we have or the lack of it? Imagine if we were in a small boat in the sea, and there's a great storm that made the wave came into the boat - will it change who we are?

I wonder what's inside Peter's mind when he heard Jesus said to him,"Come". Did he allow the fact that everyone know that human density is greater than water density, hence no man walked on water? Did he realized how big the storm was? (And even without storm men don't walk on water). Or he let Jesus' word "Come" to redefine who he was - if Jesus said so it is so.

I think in His walked with His disciple Jesus didn't just teach them about Who He really was, but more than that, who they truly are in Him & with Him.

Supernatural happen when we start agreeing with His words even in the not so favourable natural facts. Yes it requires our response to Him. Do you think Peter would walk on water even after Jesus said "Come" but he never really stepped out from the boat and walked?

Like Peter, as the children of God we're in the learning process in trusting Him, yes it's about faith (again...don't limit faith in Him ONLY regarding eternal life). In the contrary, fear is actually putting faith on the threat.

Like Peter, sometimes we fall not because of sin, but because we agree with our fearful feeling as a reaction to what we see or feel. Peter started sinking when he feared the wind, this is when he became natural - and this is not what Jesus intended him to be).

As it is a learning process mistakes are inevitable, so it's ok to make mistakes. Like Peter, sometimes we reacted to the visible facts rather than response to His words - we walked by sight instead of by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7 New King James Version (NKJV) "For we walk by faith, not by sight."). We fail so many time, we feel fearful, we make mistakes, but like Peter too, we're always within Jesus reach to help us.

Don't you think it was better to be like Peter on that story? Yes, he sank, but nevertheless he learnt to trust the voice of His beloved Saviour. Or you want to be the ones who didn't take risk, or stop taking risk just because you didn't SEE the result you wanted to SEE?

Who do you think Jesus is for you? Who do you think you are? What/Who define you? Is Jesus God over natural & supernatural? What does He say about you?

Do we really know that Jesus is our identity? He never reveals Himself apart of us as we are the body of Christ. And He never reveals our identity apart of Himself. Christ is in you, the hope of glory.