When Peter stepped out of the boat and began to walk on water, he experienced a miracle. Certainly, what Peter experienced was literally phenomenal. But something happened. Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, and when he did, he began to sink.
But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. (Matthew 14:30, NLT)
Peter took his eyes off of the Lord, put them on the storm, and disrupted the miracle.
Believer, please hear me - and preachers especially. If in this hour we take the focus off of Jesus, we will sink. Our futures will sink. Our ministries will sink. We will sink.
Don’t allow the winds and waves of chaos to steal your focus. Jesus must remain your focus.
When Jesus remains your focus, several things happen.
#1 Perfect Peace
Firstly, when Jesus remains your focus, your heart is filled with perfect peace.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. (Isaiah 26:3, KJV)
#2 True Unity
Secondly, when Jesus remains your focus, you’ll experience true unity with fellow believers. Focused on the Lord, you won’t become distracted by the winds and waves of this carnal world. When we focus on Jesus, we focus on what unites us, rather than on what has the potential to divide us.
Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13, NLT)
#3 Spiritual Stability
Thirdly, when Jesus remains your focus, you will be firmly established. You won’t be moved by every opinion and trend. You’ll abide faithfully, steadfastly. Nothing will be able to shake you. Your faith will remain intact, even in difficult times.
Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. (Matthew 7:24, NLT)
#4 Effectiveness
Finally, when Jesus remains your focus, you remain effective. For the past several weeks, I have been emphasizing this truth: “Jesus is still the answer, and the gospel is still the mission.” I’m happy to see that message spreading. The reason I emphasize this is because, in trying times, in confusing times, we have the tendency to get off message. When Jesus remains your focus, He remains your message. And when Jesus remains your message, you remain effective.
For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. (1 Corinthians 2:2, NLT)
So let the winds and the waves rage. Keep your eyes on Jesus. When the storm passes, you don’t want to look back in shame. You don’t want to look back and remember yourself falling apart, losing faith, being controlled by your emotions, or sinking. When you look back at the days of the storm, you’ll want to say, “I stood faithful. I kept my integrity. I kept my purity, my joy, my love, my peace. In the middle of the storm, I kept my eyes on Jesus.”