When God No Shows

When I was in fourth grade I was SO excited to get glasses!  I thought they were cool (this is in the early 90's- we defined cool).  By fifth grade I was praying them away, literally.  This was at a time when the churches were having crusades, healings happening everywhere, and a church that was excited!  With each special service or guest speaker I heard I asked God to heal my poor eyesight.  My young faith was convinced he would do that for me!  But he didn't.  Time after time, prayer after prayer, believing with my whole heart, God no showed.  And it seemed as though he showed up for the people around me, but why not me?

Let's pick it up in Matthew 14

Matthew 14:22-33 (NIV)

²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
²⁹ “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Have you ever spent a considerable amount of time with a few people?  Lived in a dorm, gone on a mission trip, eat, sleep, and do most everything with them for a time?  You get to know them pretty well, like what things you would prefer they not eat, jokes to play on their fears (hello creation of the plastic cockroach), what makes them cry, and what their favorite shirt is.  So when we read that when Jesus' disciples cried out in fear that "it's a ghost" does it strike you as odd?  His disciples didn't recognize him?  Oh and by the way, this wasn't the only time the people closest to him didn't recognize him! 

At times when God seems to no show, my question is this:  did he really no show, or did you fail to recognize him?  A heavy question, I know!  There is no shame in your honest answer to this, remember the guys who hung out with him all the time didn't even recognize him!

So what do we do when we can't see him in our situation?  Let's take some cues from what we read:

1.  Spend time with God 

It's hard to distinguish him from the crowd when we don't know his voice, his tendencies, even his smell!  I included the first verses 22-23 so that you could see even Jesus took time to spend time with God (which just happened to be on a day he was mourning the death of John the Baptist, spent a lot of time healing people, preached for hours, and fed the crowd of 5,000+). 

2. Ask him to draw you to him 

Peter, in disbelief, asked Jesus to draw him to Him.  Notice that Jesus didn't scoff at their unbelief?  Instead he answered Peter's unbelief and told him to come!

3. Do what he tells you to do

Jesus told him what to do!  Imagine if Peter had said "naw, I'll stay here, I believe it's you.  Why don't you just come get in the boat?"  When we don't heed God's directions, we become good people, with good intentions, who make faulty decisions. 

4. Stay focused on God rather than your storm 

Living in Hawaii is pretty awesome, but I've learned quickly to have a healthy respect for the water.  Getting pulled back out to sea after a wave tosses you onto the beach teaches you that healthy respect.  I've had those thoughts rush through my head "I don't think I'm gonna make it out of this alive."  So when I read that Peter was afraid of the wind, I imagine it was a pretty legitimate fear... the "this may end me" kind of fear.  Focusing on the fear reveals unbelief, focusing on Jesus reveals faith.  Having the faith to focus on Jesus rather than the storm doesn't mean the storm goes away, but we can have peace in the midst of it and not get swallowed whole by it!  Psst...helpful hint:  focusing on God becomes easier when you spend time with him!

Almost 20 years had gone by when I had quit believing that God cared about my eyes.  My miracle came in the form of corrective surgery when my husband decided I really should get it, so much so that he created a budget in our already tight budget to ensure it would happen!  Much later God reminded me "remember those prayers?  I did."  My husband never knew about my prayer petitions, but God used the man I married to show me that God was always present in the situation I thought He no showed. 

Father,
  Thank you for your Word and all that we're able to draw from it.  Father help me to spend time with you that I might be able to better recognize you.  When I can't see you in my situation please draw me to you, help me to follow your commands and directions, and help me to keep my eyes on you rather than the storm.  Help me to trust that you are in the midst of what I'm going through.  In Jesus' name, Amen. 

xo