Mr. Miyagi and the Power of Asking

Suggested Reading: Matthew 14:22-29

Daniel was running for his life. He had played a prank on the school bully in an attempt to get even with him and he was now being chased by the bully's entire gang of goons. They finally caught up with him as he tried to jump the fence surrounding his apartment complex and they pulled him down, kicking and pummeling him without mercy. Suddenly a shadowy figure flew over the fence, ambushing Daniel's attackers. In a flurry of kicks and chops, Mr Miyagi subdued each of Daniel's assailants as Daniel seemed to drift in and out of consciousness. When Daniel awoke, he asked Mr Miyagi why he had never mentioned that he knew karate. Mr Miyagi replied, "You never asked."

We miss out on a lot in life because we never ask. We don't get a raise because we never ask. We don't go out with that cute girl because we never ask. We miss our favorite thanksgiving food because we don't ask for it. So many things we never learn or experience because we just never ask. There are even some things in our walk with God we miss out on because we simply never ask.

As Isaiah was standing before God's throne, he heard God ask, "Who will we send as a messenger to these people? Who will go for us?" And Isaiah replied, "Here am I Lord! Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8, NLT). As Peter watched Jesus walking on the water across the lake, he cried out, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water" (Matthew 14:28, NLT). In both cases, God did something incredible in these men's lives. God did the miraculous in a way that changed the world through both men. But both men asked to be used. God did not force it on them. He allowed them to be in the right place at the right time, but in both cases the miraculous hinged on their willingness to ask God if they could be a part of what he was doing, if they could be where he already was.

Sometimes, God goes out of the way to get our attention like God did with Saul on the road to Damascus. But at other times, God wants us to ask to be a part of what God is doing. If you want God to do the miraculous in your life, if you want God to use you in an incredible way, don't be afraid to ask. In fact, God may just be waiting for you to ask so that the impossible can begin.

Let's All Be Superheroes

Suggested Reading: Matthew 14:22-33

My son is a massive superhero junky. It doesn't really matter which superhero - Superman, Batman, Thor, DareDevil, Spiderman. He loves pretty much all of them and would prefer to have every movie or television show ever made about every one of them. But he is really not that different from most every other guy I know. Almost all of us want to be some superhero or another. So it's really not that surprising that most Christians want to be like Peter.

Now Peter was a loud mouth who didn't know what he was saying most of the time that Jesus was around but he had moments of brilliance. There was the time that Jesus asked the disciples who they thought he was and Peter boldly declared, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). But the time when most of us look at Peter and wish we could be him, even just for a moment, is found in Matthew 14.

Jesus had sent the disciples across the lake so he could be alone to pray. They were still crossing the lake in the middle of the night when Jesus came walking across the waves. The disciples freaked out thinking he was a ghost (which is only natural considering that normal people can't walk on water). When Jesus declared himself to them, Peter, rational thinker that he was, said, "Lord, if it is you, call me to come out to you on the water" (Matthew 14:28).

Ok.  What? Peter was crazy.  The other disciples, the ones hunkering down and cowering in fear, were the rational ones in this instance. People can't walk on water. Peter was the crazy one for believing anyone could walk on the water, much less thinking he could do it too. But Peter remembered something that we often forget: when God is involved, nothing is impossible. So Peter got to do something that none of the rest of us normally get to do. Peter got to walk on water like some superhero.

There are times when God calls us to do something that seems crazy, that seems impossible. When that moment comes, we can either take a chance, knowing that God is great enough to make up for whatever ability we don't have or we can hunker down and cower in fear, always wondering what it would have been like to walk on water. 

When your moment comes, what will you decide? Will you be bound by what is natural and possible? Or will you be crazy and step out on the water, trusting that Jesus will catch you if you fall? I don't know about you, but I want to be a little crazy.