Raised to Stay: Persevering in Ministry When You Have a Million Reasons to Walk AwaySample

It's Not A Ghost

Whatever has caused you to want to quit on the church, it may seem like a hopeless situation. You don’t know if anything can bring healing at this point. God is going to have to show up in the situation, if things are going to get better.

Sometimes we are like the disciples when they were in a boat and unable to get anywhere because the wind and waves were holding them back (Matthew 14:22-33). They felt alone, because Jesus wasn’t with them. They were losing hope and didn’t know what to do.

Like the disciples out on the rocking seas, we are more familiar with the winds and waves of life than with miracles. Even as Jesus was walking toward them, walking on the water, it made more sense to them that they were seeing a ghost than the possibility this could be yet another miracle (verse 26).

Just a short time before this moment, they had partnered with Jesus in feeding the five thousand and watched him perform a miracle before their very eyes. Now they were in a storm, but it wasn’t because they had been disobedient. Sometimes God allows the storms in our lives so he can reveal his true identity in our situations. He will use the storms to show himself as God.

God said that life wouldn’t be easy but that he would never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5-6). God told us that weapons might forge themselves against us, but they would not prevail (Isaiah 54:17). Jesus is still a miracle worker.

This is an invitation to acknowledge a stormy season and a challenge to keep watching for the miracle.

Expect to see people you love meet a Jesus they’ve always wanted to know.

Expect relationships to be restored.

Expect God to show up and start multiplying your loaves and fish.

Remember, God meets our needs according to his riches and glory, not our level of faith or activity.

He is walking on the water, friends. It’s not a ghost.

Expect a miracle.

Dear God, I am going to trust you with my hurt and doubts. I am going to believe in your power to change circumstances. Help me to take the next step…and stay.