If You Think.....

As seen in the HEARTbeat and the Village Voice

If You Think…..

            I invite you to walk through a Christian bookstore and find something about attitude.  In reality there are rows and rows of plaques, banners, pictures, and other visual art about having a positive attitude.  It is a mindset, or should I say a mind-step to plugging into the power of God.

            You may have heard the phrase, “If you think you can, you may be right.  But if you think you can’t, you’re absolutely right!”  Many times we try to reach goals only to fall short.  But reaching a goal is not the measure of success.  The true measure is turning around and seeing how far you’ve made it from your starting point.  It’s so amazing what we can do when we fix our “eyes on the prize” and strive to attain it.  But the second we decide we can’t possibly reach the goal, we fail.

            There is one event involving a single person which embodies this premise so much and that is Peter walking on the water.  Several times Peter let his mouth overload his capabilities, such as telling Jesus he would rather die with Him than abandon Him.  Jesus predicted the denial, yet Peter let his mouth run.

            After Jesus had fed the multitudes following Him on the bank while He and the disciples were in the boat, He retired to the mountainside to pray.  He needed time to grieve over the death of His cousin, John the Baptist.  He had heard about John’s death shortly before loading into the boat.  But when He saw the huge crowd following Him, He told the disciples to set the boat to the land so He could see to the needs of the people.

            Jesus retired to pray and sent the disciples ahead in the boat to the other side of the lake.  Just before dawn, Jesus set out walking on the water.  The disciples were scared as they thought He was a ghost.  Jesus approached the boat and told them (paraphrasing), “If you think it’s me, come on out of the boat to me on the water.”  Peter being bold jumped from his safe spot in the boat.  He made it a few steps before he began to sink.  What happened?  On top of that, he asked Jesus to save him from drowning!  Why?  He could swim!

            Peter saw the prize, his Lord.  But when he took his eyes off Jesus, he was dragged down by the circumstances of this world.  I believe he is the only man in recorded history to have walked on water.  But when he realized what he was doing presumably on his own power, he failed to reach his goal.

            We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.  If we keep our eyes on the One who gives us the power to succeed, we will reach the goal.  But remember, the goal of every Christian should be to bring honor and glory to the One who empowers us, not our own glory.  When we start thinking we operate on our own power, we will not reach God’s desires.

            Today, adopt God’s goals for your life as your goals.  Then you won’t have to think you can, you will know you absolutely can!