Holding to the Word of the Lord by Roberts Liardon

Author:Roberts Liardon [Liardon, Roberts]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-03-23T12:32:50+00:00

Chapter 3

WHY YOU DON'T NEED A "PLAN B"

Let's go back, one more time, to Peter, sitting in that boat on the Sea of Galilee.

He looks up and sees Jesus walking toward him, coming right over the top of the water.

"Lord," he says, "if it's You, let me get out of the boat and walk to You."

And Jesus replies simply, "Come."

What did Peter do? He immediately climbed out of the boat and started walking on the water, heading towards Jesus. Admittedly, he didn't get very far. The Bible tells us that this event took place on a very windy night, and that it was the wind and the waves that took Peter's attention away from his Lord and caused him to begin to sink. But again, what ended up as a rather spectacular failure started out to be a spectacular triumph of faith. For a while, Peter was dancing over those waves like there was nothing to it.

I think we have to admire Peter for having the faith and the courage to get out of the boat in the first place. And I also think we should admire him for the speed with which he followed his Lord's command to "come."

Peter didn't spend a moment trying to put together an alternative plan.

He didn't say, "Er...okay, Lord, I'll be right there. But just in case it doesn't work, let me look around here and see if I can find a flotation device." He didn't even turn to the other disciples and say, "Okay, guys, I'm going to get out of this boat and try to walk on the water. But if it doesn't work, I want you all to be ready to haul me back in here."

No...Peter just got out of that boat and started moving across the water.

I'm afraid that far too many people today are only half-hearted in their obedience to the word of God. They say, "Okay, Lord, I hear you, and I'm willing to follow. But just the same, I think I'd better have a couple of alternatives in mind, in the event that what You have planned for me doesn't work out."

Such thinking shows a complete lack of understanding of the power and faithfulness of God. It can only lead to trouble.

For example, consider what happened between Abraham and Sarah. Sarah thought that a "Plan B" was necessary to fulfill God's promise to her husband.

The Bible doesn't give us a word-for-word description of her conversation with Abraham, but I'm sure it went something like this:

"Look, Abraham...we both know that God has promised to make you the father of many nations. But we also know that I'm well past the time when I can have a baby. But Hagar, my hand-maiden...now there's a woman who is still in the prime of life. She could be the one to have your baby. I really think you should think seriously about that."

Now Abraham, like millions of other husbands before and since his day, was willing to do just about anything his wife wanted him to do.

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