Devotional Reading: Psalm 36, Psalm 37, Psalm 38, Psalm 39; Matthew 14:22-36

MATTHEW 14:22-36 22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. 33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; 36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

Destructive Distraction

Distraction is the first seed of everything you want to avoid in life. It is a simple but powerful tool of your adversary because it does not travel alone. While you think that you are being only distracted, there is more than you may see working to establish a series of unfortunate events. But your life is not a movie that you can rewind and splice and merge and play at will. You can flip the script, but you can not erase what has already been written. You need Jesus for that. Perhaps the most destructive companion of distraction is doubt.

When Jesus walked on water, Peter asked Jesus to allow him to do what Jesus did. Peter knew that this kind of power could only come from the Son of God. And we know that at his first step in the power of Christ, Peter was indeed able to do what Jesus did. However, when Peter began to focus on the tempestuous wind and waves, he began to doubt; and there he immediately began to sink.

You have heard that you should seek out the root of the problem in order to find a real solution. If you only bandage the side effects of the root, these are temporary fixes. Though these may be good interventions in a crisis, they are not designed for long-term, permanent use. Even a cast is intended for removal at the appointed time, though it may be a good part of the healing process for brokenness.

Temporary fixes are fragile. Think about it. If you steal to make money, you will have to steal to keep it. If you lie to find love you will have to lie to keep it. If you hide to make peace, you will have to remain in hiding. Jesus died and was resurrected, so you could live in abundance, without blame, standing before Him. He wants you to cast off temporary heart fixes and receive His whole healing.

Do not think that you will save time, money or spare yourself any heartache by using a temporary heart fix. Yes, holiness is high maintenance. You don’t just live holy by accident. But like temporary bandages, temporary fixes in our lives are high maintenance too.

• They wash away with water (the flood of the enemy);
• And though they catch the oozing of our injuries and can make us appear whole though we are not, they can also allow a sin infection (bitterness, gossip, complaining, strife, jealousy, grudges, etc.) when not changed often;

If we do not allow the root of doubt to remain in our hearts, we will not see the sin tree growing rampantly in our lives.

All sin is the result of some doubt. Either we doubt that the Lord is our “personal” Savior (as in, “that (lifestyle) is not for me” or “I am not worthy [of His gift]”); or we doubt that He is truly of the Son of God or that the resurrection really happened (as with the damning belief that there is no Savior or that Jesus was not the Messiah but something less); or we doubt that God will serve our just reward (as in “a little” lie, or a sin “just this once,” or “what they don’t know won’t hurt them…”); or we doubt that our deliverer is coming, therefore we take matters in our own limited hands… and the list goes on.

Praise is a doubt fogger. When you have an infestation, you call an exterminator. Doubt is like a termite. It eats through what could otherwise be a solid foundation. It causes the double mindedness that God abhors. Jesus is a balm that heals wounds. However, you do not need to wait until you are wounded to apply His power since His application to our lives is also a preventative measure – a preemptive strike against doubt. Praise is good for holy extermination, to choke the weeds of bitterness and all other oozing that may poison our spiritual health.

Will you be whole today?

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is thirsty come. And whoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Revelation 22:7