Skimming stones

What is the enduring appeal of skimming stones? The Pattersons still play at it when we are by the sea. Is it that we seem to be defying the laws of nature?  Stones should sink.

 Which makes what Peter did so extraordinary. Peter skimmed the surface of the waves. Here are a few thoughts from Matthew’s account of the day that Peter walked on water.

 Being in a storm doesn’t mean that you are in the wrong place. The disciples were exactly where Jesus told them to go and yet they hit a storm.

 When the storm rages, the wind gusts and the spray is in your eyes, it’s harder to recognise Jesus. But Jesus never leaves us to face a storm alone. He strides over the turbulence to meet us, proving that skimming stones is child’s play and his loving voice reassures us just as it reassured those first disciples, “Take heart, it’s me. Don’t be afraid!”

 Peter responds with a crazy request, “Lord if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Definitely not the proof I would have chosen! The Lord tells Peter to come. For a few moments, Peter is a rock in the hand of God, skimming on the waves, but then he makes a massive mistake, he takes his eyes off Jesus and looks at the foaming waves. He gave the wrong thing his attention. 

 How does the story end?  It could have ended like this – “Peter failed - he didn’t trust, he got scared and sunk into the depths to be forgotten forever.”

 Our story ends differently. Jesus reaches out a hand to catch Peter, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”  Even when we doubt, Jesus doesn’t let us sink. Today, his strong hand has you tight-held. But always, always, he calls us to greater faith.

 It always comes back to this – keeping our eyes on Jesus, listening to him, even in the raging storms when our world threatens to capsize.

 We had an inspiring conference last week on Hearing God’s Voice with Bill Cahusac, available here.  What could matter more than giving God our attention, responding to his invitation to be our Friend, our Saviour and our Lord?  Many wonderful stories came out of the morning.  Someone wrote to tell me what happened when they listened to God for a complete stranger, “The first word I got seemed very vague, I kind of saw a heart and thought ‘a heart for the poor, a heart for those in need’, then wrote a few other bits. As soon as I shared ‘a heart for the poor’ she got quite emotional …..she told me that she had just arrived from working 3 years in the slums in India, caring for the poorest of the poor. She is still helping people in need, but I think that she was just really moved that God saw her, knew her heart and was blessed by that.

 That prophetic word was Jesus saying to her, just as he did to Peter, “Take heart, it’s me, I am here.”

That’s what Jesus wants to say to me and to you.  

 As I’m typing this, Tom, the decorator, is downstairs painting over the damp patch that appeared in my kitchen. I had to source the colour of the paint – it’s called… wait for it … skimming stone! It will be my reminder of what can happen when we trust our lives to Jesus, giving him our attention because we always have his. 

 And if you are serious about stone-skimming - this is the link to a world champion stone-skimmer - a goal to aim for!