Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart Psalm 119:2

I remember taking swimming lessons as a young kid at my local rec center. They got us comfortable in the water by helping us learn to float and to blow bubbles to the tune of Tiny Timmy the Turtle. As a kid, I thought these lessons were kind of silly. I grew up not too far from the ocean and had been many times, but it was important to my parents to get me comfortable, and I am very grateful for that. Years later, I was in Kansas City, Kansas, visiting my grandparents one summer. They had a pool, and I spent many hot days swimming in that pool. One evening, they invited a bunch of college students to come over and swim. To my surprise and confusion, they didn’t know how to swim. As I’ve grown, I’ve realized that my exposure to swimming and the opportunities I had growing up were not the same as many people around me. It was because I had parents who deliberately exposed me to water because of that I was more comfortable and able to swim. We can draw a few parallels with this to our relationship with God. At first, if we are not familiar with God, it can be a scary thing to reach out to Him. But once we are exposed to the wonders of a Creator who loves us, we can begin to see just how awesome He is. There is a story in the Bible that I think illustrates this wonderfully. Do you want to know which story I am thinking of? I guess you’ll have to read more to find out.

I am a big fan of allowing people to live in suspense. But this time I'll reveal the mystery early. The story I think shows us that building a relationship with God opens us up to the wonders of God is found in of Matthew Chapter 14. The story is Peter walking on water. But to fully understand this story I think we need to go back a little to see how Peter got to the point of feeling confident enough to ask Jesus to perform a miracle for him.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Luke 5:4

We first see Peter and Jesus hanging out when Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee and got into a boat. This boat belonged to Peter. He was a fisherman and Jesus told Peter to cast off deeper and let down his nets. At this point Peter was pretty skeptical of what this teacher was telling him. He told Jesus that they had worked all night long but if he insisted he would do it. When they did as Jesus asked they suddenly caught a gigantic load of fish. This was Peter's first exposure to the wonders of God. He had no idea how much more Jesus would do in front of his eyes. 

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. Mark 6:7

Jump forward a little in the story and Peter is one of the Twelve disciples called by Jesus. They have seen miracle after miracle done by Jesus and in Mark chapter 6 Jesus gives them a mission. He tells them to go and preach and not only say amazing things but to do amazing things. Peter and the twelve were given "authority" and Jesus charged them to perform wonders through out their travels. Can you imagine the excitement they must have had. At this point in their relationship with Jesus they had seen Him work amazing things and now He was inviting them into amazing things too. 

Think with me for a second. If Jesus had gathered the twelve disciples up and sent them out to perform miracles right after meeting them would they have believed they could do it? Maybe. Would it have created in them a misunderstanding of the power of God? I think so. You see when the Disciples were sent out they were not sent out under their own authority but by the authority of Jesus. To speak on His behalf, to do that they needed to know Jesus first. If they didn't know Jesus they would be tempted to assume it was their own power that did these amazing things. It was through the development of their relationships that they were opened up to the Wonders of God.

Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. Matthew 14:29

So what does this have to do with Peter walking on water and ultimately you and me? Well let me ask you this. If you had been with the Disciples in that boat would you have asked to walk on water? Would you have even thought that was an option to ask for? I know I wouldn't. Even today I know that their are moments were I limit what I think God can do. But when we get to know God more and more we will see like Peter that God can do things we would never imagine. We begin to open ourselves up to the wonders of God. 

This week's wonder challenge is tied directly to the story of Zacchaeus in Luke chapter 19. The wonder challenge is this:

I wonder how can I be the tree that reveals more of Jesus?

I wonder, will you take up the call to be someone who lifts others up to reveal Christ? The call to be sent out to perform wonders? Did you even know that was a possibility? Just as the Disciples were sent out with the authority of Jesus we too are sent out. We too need his power and we too can open ourselves up to the wonders of God.