Viral #4: Lord, if it is You...

Satan said, “If You are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread” (Matt. 4:3). The crowd in Jerusalem said, “If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross” (Matt. 27:40). Peter said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (Matt. 14:28).
There is one significant difference between these three incidents. Jesus did not command the stones to become bread, and He did not come down from the cross. But He did tell Peter to “Come” (Matt. 14:29).
As our new associate pastor, John (AKA PJ 2.0), pointed out, Peter’s language was very much like the language used by Satan when He tempted Jesus and the language used by the crowd when Jesus was crucified. Clearly, on those two occasions, the words, “If You are the Son of God…” were words of doubt and skepticism. Those who spoke them were questioning whether or not Jesus truly was the Son of God.
Peter’s words reflected an element of doubt, but I’m not certain that he doubted to the same degree as Satan or the crowd. I wonder whether or not he doubted whether or not Jesus is the Son of God. It may be that Peter had the understandable doubt as to whether or not the person he saw out on the water was in fact Jesus.
Peter heard a voice. It sounded like Jesus’ voice, but amidst the noise of the storm and his friends crying out in fear, perhaps he couldn’t be certain. Peter saw a figure, but it was dark and stormy, out there on the sea. He couldn’t clearly see who or what was out there. Peter wanted to be certain it was Jesus. He didn’t want to follow or listen to the voice of another.
I’ve had a couple occasions in which I thought God was talking to me about some specific things that were going to happen in my life. But they did not happen. When it became clear that those things were not going to transpire, it became obvious to me that God had not spoken to me as I thought He had. Either the devil had deceived me, or I had deceived myself into thinking God had said something that He had not said.
So we do need to be careful about whose voice we’re listening to. But I will say that when it is clear that God is speaking to us, we need to listen to Him and do whatever He tells us to do.
Now, Peter’s request of proof that it was Jesus is interesting. “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” On Sunday, John suggested that this reflected Peter’s pride. “God, give me the ability, so I can do it on my own.”
Certainly, Peter did have his issues with pride. Later, it would be Peter who boasted, “If all the others fall away, I will never away. I am ready to go with You to prison and to death” (cf. Matt. 26:33; Luke 22:33). But only a few short hours later denied Jesus—not once, not twice, but three times—adamantly declaring, “I don’t know the man!”
Peter’s pride may be reflected in his request when he saw Jesus walking on the water. And we certainly must be wary of praying, “God, give me the power to do things on my own.” Of course, this is difficult in our western society that holds rugged individualism and independence up as a virtue. The Christian life is not to be a life of independence, but of dependence upon God. In John 15:5, Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” The Christian life is not about what we can do for God. It is all about what He does for us, in us, and through us.
But then I think of Romans 8:13, the latter half of which says, “But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Certainly, this cannot be done apart from the enabling of the Holy Spirit. We cannot do it on our own. But the command is clear. We must put the deeds of the flesh to death. The Holy Spirit empowers and enables us, but He does not do the work for us. Philippians 2:12-13 teaches us that it is God who gives us both the desire and the ability to obey Him. But He does not do the obeying for us. We must obey God. And there is nothing wrong with asking God for the ability to do so.
The difference may be subtle, but definitely there. Rather than arrogantly praying, “God, give me the ability, so I can do it myself,” we must humbly pray, “God, empower me to obey You and to do Your will for Your glory.”


QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND APPLICATION

1. Read John 10:27. What does this verse teach us about the Christian’s ability to hear God’s voice? How can we tell when God is speaking to us and when He is not?


2. Have there been any times in your life when you thought God was speaking to you about something when, in fact, He was not? How did you discover that it wasn’t the Lord speaking to you? What happened?


3. Have there been times when God was speaking to you, but you were not listening? Why didn’t you listen? What happened? What were the consequences of not listening to God?


4. How often to you pray for God’s power to be manifested in your life? When you do pray for this, what is your motivation? Do you want to bring attention to yourself and brag about what you’ve been able to do? Or is your desire simply to obey and glorify God?