But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me."

Matthew 14:30, ESV

 

Have you ever thought about this passage? It was the event in which Jesus came to His disciples while they were on a boat, but He was walking on the water itself in the heart of a storm. Peter asked Jesus to allow him to walk on the water and Jesus permitted it. But as Peter walked, he experienced the power of the storm and the magnitude of what he was doing and began o sink. We are all familiar with this miraculous event, but it is the non-miraculous part that I want to look at today.

 

In the passage above, it says that Peter "saw the wind." But how can you see something that has no visible substance that can be seen by the human eye? 

 

The answer to this question will help us to understand how we can believe in God Himself. When you think about this event, Peter clearly could not see something that couldn't be seen, but he could see the evidence. Furthermore, he could experience the effects. And while no one can see the wind, everyone who is paying attention can see it's evidence and feel it's effects. So, when Peter saw the waves and felt the breeze cutting through his skin, he knew that there was wind. For all practical purposes, he could see the wind in his mind's eye from the perspective of being able to assimilate the different pieces of evidence.

 

Here's another example: Suppose one day you heard the roaring and snarling of a lion. You rush outside and see lion tracks in the dirt. You come across a tragic victim who has been mangled and who is clearly suffering from his injuries, who whispers to you, "I was attacked by a lion." Though you had never actually seen the lion, you heard his roars, you saw his tracks, and you even heard eye-witness testimony that there was a lion. The only logical conclusion that you can make is that a lion had been there. 

 

The Apostle Peter wrote the following observation about Jesus in I Peter 1:8-9:

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

 

The Apostle Paul wrote this in Romans 1:19-20:

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

 

In these two passages, those who have never seen God nor Christ still have enough evidence. The evidence is more than adequate for us to draw the only rational conclusion that God and Christ both existed and we, therefore, must believe in them. Perhaps you have heard some mock at the idea of such a faith because they themselves would never be so stupid as to believe in something or Someone that they had never seen. But as the two examples above prove, there are some things which reasonable people will believe, in fact that they must believe, for they have seen the evidence and experienced the effects.

 

Every court case that a jury must come up with a verdict is based upon this very premise. In the absence of actually seeing the crime itself (or video evidence of the event) the jury is left only with the evidence that is presented to them. The prosecutor will show them the pictures of the "tracks in the sand" and will provide as many reliable witnesses as possible who "heard the lion roaring" and who actually "were attacked by the lion." 

 

As to Jesus' life, His teachings, and His miracles, we have a multitude of reliable witnesses from both inside and outside of the Bible. As to the existence of God, we behold His creation on a daily basis - from the sunrise to the sunset and everything in between, Though there will always be the sceptics who proclaim that they will never believe in anything they did not see with their own eyes, these are the very ones that God says are without excuse. The reason is that they have seen the evidence, and the only logical conclusion of that evidence is that God and Christ are real.

 

And, while it is definitely true that Peter never saw the wind itself (wind is invisible) he did see its evidence and experience its effects. So, for all practical purposes, he saw the wind. In our example of the lion attack, while the man who heard the roaring, saw the tracks and spoke to its victim never actually saw the lion with his eyes, the evidence allowed him for all practical purposes to see that the lion has been there.

 

When we talk about faith, many act as if it is an irrational and emotional response, but it is not. True faith is a reasoned conclusion from the best available evidence. The fact is that Peter would have been pretty dumb not to have believed that the wind existed, and the man would have been pretty stupid not to believe that the lion existed. What, then, can we say about those who refuse to believe in God and Christ even after seeing the available evidence? In God's own words, they are without excuse, even if they believe themselves to be intellectual and reasoning. A man who refuses to use his intellect and reason to come to an obvious conclusion cannot be seen as being either intellectual or reasonable.

 

If you believe in God and Christ, then you are not just a person of faith, you are a person of reason. If not... well, you can draw your own conclusions.

I can't remember where I came across this story. I've read so many books and articles and I'm getting so old that a lot of the details seem to escape me - but I do remember the story. It's about a black man who was a mechanic aboard a small river boat. It was sometime after the civil war but well before civil rights, so it was during a time when opportunities for black men in areas like employment and education were quite limited.

 

Another man had opportunity to cross a large river (it might have been the Mississippi) on this boat, and for some reason he went below where the engine room was. This was the domain of the black gentleman and what the passenger observed stunned him. He had been below on a number of such vessels, and they were all pretty much the same. They were dirty and greasy and usually a jumbled mess of needed parts, cast-off items that still might have some use, and other equipment needed to keep the boat running. This engine room, however, was not at all like the others he had seen. It was spotless!

 

He complimented the gentleman for what he had observed, stating that he had never seen anything like it. Why, he wondered, would anyone go to so much trouble to keep an engine room so immaculate? The black gentleman simply smiled and replied, "I gots a glory"!

 

This, in my opinion, is the way that life should be lived. Sometimes we fall into the trap of not thinking too highly of what we do, and our everyday labors become a bit mundane. Since we don't think too highly of what we are doing, and perhaps we don't even think too highly of who we are, we have a tendency to "let things slide". This is a common situation, and I suppose most people fall prey to it from time to time, but we shouldn't do so. As the Apostle Paul was inspired to write, we should do all things as if we are working for the Lord. It not only makes a difference in the way people view us and in the way that we often view ourselves, but it will also influence the way that some people see Christ whom we are serving.

 

I think everyone needs a glory. Like most people, I'm proud of my family. My son and his wife have a non-profit on the side that drills wells so that people can have clean water in certain villages in Africa that do not already have access to such. My oldest daughter is the volunteer director of a Bible school, and is responsible for arranging all the curriculum, lining up the teachers, and taking care of the myriads of other details that such an endeavor requires. My youngest daughter is married to a preacher, and they handle all of the duties that such a profession entails. My sweet wife designs Bible curriculum in her spare time that is currently being used in hundreds of churches in Ghana and within countless households all around the world.

 

They, like that wise black gentleman, would be embarrassed to talk about such things because none are doing it for attention. They simply do it because there is a need for these things to be done and God has blessed them with the opportunity to do them. And, since they are doing them anyway, they might as well throw their hearts and souls into these tasks so that they can do them right.

 

In short, they have a glory!

 

And that glory is not for themselves, for that would be a pretty worthless life when you think about it. No, the things that we do need to be done to the glory of our Father and His Son whom we are honored to serve. And the things we do, don't have to be that spectacular in the eyes of others. They just have to be something that we can do. And since we can be doing them, we might as well do them well, for it is a privilege and an honor to serve God in any capacity which He allows.

 

Do you have a glory? It has the potential to change your life! 

Surely God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.

Psalms 73:1, KJV

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. 

But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the LORD God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Psalms 73: 27-28, ESV

 

I love the 73rd Psalm! The inspired author begins by extoling God's goodness to Israel. In the New Testament, the apostle Paul points out that all who are faithful to God are Israel, so that's you and me. And God is good to us!

 

Asaph, the man who wrote the 73rd Psalm, was going through some personal struggles. He had noticed how often wicked men seemed to get away with their bad behavior and it bothered him. A lot! He talked about how this almost caused his faith to waiver until he realized the ultimate reward for their behavior- in effect, that their life would eventually come to an end, and that this end would not be pleasant. And then Asaph turned to view the way that God took care of those who were trying to walk faithfully before Him, and he came up with the only conclusion that a reasoning person could make: God is good!

 

One of my favorite comedians is a man by the name of Jerry Clower. He had a book and a video with the title, "Ain't God Good!" Despite the improper English, Mr. Clower was saying the same thing that Asaph did nearly 3,000 years prior: God is so good to us that this goodness needs to be proclaimed! In fact, it needs to be exclaimed! If you and I are walking in the way that God wants us to, then God will take care of us in every way that we need taking care of.

 

Think about what that means: It means that we will always have our basic needs taken care of. We will never have to worry about food or clothing or shelter because God Himself will ensure that we have the opportunity to obtain these things. It is true that His plan is that we work for them, but He provides ample opportunity for pleasant and satisfying work for those who have chosen to walk in His ways. We all know of people who are starving and who do not have proper clothing or shelter, but we need to understand that these things occur not because people are trying to walk in His ways, but because sinful people pervert those ways and miss out on the blessings.

 

And though it is very true that the innocent will sometimes suffer because of wicked people's behavior, this is a result of the consequences of sin that God forbids, so the blame for this suffering is squarely upon the shoulders of the wicked, not on God. And even though the righteous do occasionally have hard things to go through because of the wicked, God will eventually reward them. Aside from these instances when the behavior of wicked men adversely affects the righteous, we have a pretty good life.  

 

I think about the goodness of God in my own life. Because my parents loved God, I had a great childhood. I woke up in a happy home with people who made me feel secure. I went to school to teachers who liked their jobs for the most part and who liked children. We played at recess with other kids who respected the rules of "kid society". We had nurses at school who took care of our ailments. We had crossing guards to make sure that we got across the street safely, and when we got home, we might even get a snack before Mom packed us back outside to play. We were excited when Dad got home from work because he was a good guy, and we ate a meal that was nourishing and tasty. 

 

Sometimes, there was dessert!

 

We went to worship and Sunday School on Sundays and prayer meeting and Bible class on Wednesdays. When we were sick, Mom took care of us, and when we were well and has our chores done, we played. We got a quarter for our allowance which allowed us to enjoy a variety of pleasures that were highly anticipated and greatly enjoyed. It is true that we had to set aside a nickel for God - this was part of our training, but the rest of that quarter was ours to spend any way we wanted. We got to go "home" to Lubbock at Christmastime and summer, where we got to see our grandparents and run wild with our cousins. And when the time came, we got to go to college where we often met our future spouse, and when we got out, we married and started the cycle all over again. 

 

Isn't God good!

 

I know that there will be those who disagree, but I also know from experience that these are typically people who have either never tried God's way, or they have rejected it altogether. God is good to those who love Him, and His desire is that everyone will. For those who don't, they are usually relegated to a life of misery, and they have a tendency to share that misery with every unfortunate soul that they cross paths with. But despite the misinformed opinions of the wicked, the righteous know! God is good!

 

We should think about this often. It will make our lives a whole lot better. And someday there will be Heaven, for God is indeed good!

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; 

but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Ephesians 6:4, KJV

 

To nurture is to care for and protect. To admonish is to provide authoritative counsel and discipline. When combined correctly, a child can grow up with love and respect towards all those he or she will interact with. What's more, that baby will grow up to be happy! It is a delicate balance, but one that all parents can achieve with God's help. We parents just need to remember that the Lord gave us this tiny blessing, but along with that blessing, He has given us a great responsibility.

 

In recent years, our family and the local church we are a part of have experienced a baby boom. It seems like every time we turn around, another baby's due date is announced. These babes bring life and joy to any congregation and to any family. The trick is to appreciate the joy, while also realizing the great duty that we have towards these little lives. Our responsibility is clearly to keep them safe and to make them feel well loved. At the same time, we want to raise them to be faithful servants of God, as well as good citizens of their communities. 

 

Before we know it, these little bundles of joy will be mature adults. They will be doctors and lawyers, farmers and ranchers, teachers and business owners, and maybe one or two will become preachers. These things require maturity and involve heavy responsibility. Will they be ready for such a life? I suspect that they won't if we mistake nurturing for pampering and indulgence. We cannot continue with the low expectations that so many parents, churches and schools have devolved to. We cannot raise them to think that God will accept them on their own terms and clean up any messes their own terms bring, for God is their Master not their magic genie. And we cannot award them straight A's and participation medals for just showing up. These types of well-intentioned mistakes will only harm our children, not provide the nurture that God expects.

 

As to the other side of the coin, we will need to make sure that they have admonition properly applied to their little lives. This means that they will have to mind mama and daddy. It means they will have to respect their teachers and coaches. It means that they will have to have the discipline needed to get along with their little friends without going along with them into improper behavior. It means that they will never post a video on social media that shows them putting a policeman or other proper authority in their perceived places. It means that they will have the verbal encouragement to do the right thing, combined with an appropriate paddle to their little backside when the encouragement is not heeded.

 

And more than anything else, we must never forget what all of this nurturing and admonition is for: It is so that they can be trained to love, to fear, to respect and to serve both God and Christ. Our duty to these precious new babies is to raise them up to be servants of God, not masters of their own personal universe. This can only be accomplished if it is done in the right way. We must love our children enough to give them everything that they need, and to deny everything that they don't. They will need to be raised with a full understanding of the great worth and privilege of being a child of God and a son or daughter in your own household.

 

All of these things will take time and Bible study and endless prayers. It will mean putting all of your heart into their raising. But in the end, such a lifetime of hard work will produce for them a righteous foundation for them to build a spiritual life that will be pleasing to God and men. Someday these precious little babies will kneel before God and give an account for the lives that they have led. Let's make sure that we can do everything we can to prepare them for that day.