Devotional: Eye of the Tiger's Prey

"It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight. Rising up to the challenge of our rivals..." At least that's what they say in the song. But in some cases we tend to cower in their shadows. Many times, instead of being the tiger, we are the tiger's next victim...We get so scared by the problems that life throws us that we lose our focus on God. Matthew 14:25-33 talks about a similar scenario...: "During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord if it is you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wing, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying. "Truly you are the Son of God." Wow! As bad as this may sound, I don't even know if I would have gotten out of the boat! However, people tend to forget that with God, anything is possible! We, as humans, tend to forget just how powerful God really is. When we doubt God, our focus goes to our problems. We get depressed or angry, and find ourselves in a constant state of panic. Matthew 11:28-30 says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

In reality, many of us are still babies in Christ. We can only understand certain parts of God's word. When babies feed, they drink milk or eat baby food. They cannot yet digest solid food. Christians are the same in the sense that we cannot always "digest" certain parts of the bible. Now if you look at a toddler, it is hard to keep their attention for more than 5 minutes before they find something else that captures their attention. That is the way it is with Christians too. There is always something in the world that can distract us or get our attention, even if for a brief moment. So in conclusion, we as humans have a small understanding of God's word and therefore can be distracted easily. This is what happened with Peter. He became distracted by the wind and began to sink. What God wants us to do is have faith in him. If the problems, or just things, of this life prove to be distracting, then turn in over to God. On the bright side, Jesus did not let Peter drown. He saved him the same way that God saves us. Isaiah 43:2 says, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."