I love the story of Jesus and the apostle Peter in Matthew 14:28-31. This is when Peter sees Jesus walking on water and beckons Jesus to call him to Him. Peter then walks on water when I think he realizes the impossibility of it all and he begins to sink. He cries out to the Lord, "Save me." Jesus comes and rescues him saying, "Oh ye of little faith. Why did you doubt? Why did you not believe?"
I have always seen this story as a lesson in never doubting the Lord; always believe He will do what He says He will. Recently I have come into another beneficial understanding of this scriptural story. Peter has little faith but this is what a little faith can do. None of the other apostles asked if they could come unto Christ. They did not attempt to walk on water. Peter did. Even though it may have been briefly, he did walk on water. And when Peter began to sink; he believed in Christ enough to call out to Him for Jesus to save him.
So with a little faith, you can walk on water and you can call on God so that He can help save you when you find yourself in deep waters. And by exercising a little faith; you can witness miracles and grow closer to God or witness the things of God so your little faith can grow into greatness.
I am grateful that God has taken my "little faith" and healed my heart. That He has shown me that I am not the "story" of my life but that I am something far greater than that. I am His child, His beloved daughter. The story of my life is merely the experiences I have on a day to day basis. Being His daughter, a child of divinity is who I am.
It is in knowing this eternal truth that I can put things into perspective. It is in understanding this truth that I am able to put on the "armor" of God and become invincible. For no matter what possessions can be taken away from me, this knowledge cannot be. It is in knowing that any experience I have cannot diminish, tarnish, or take away the fact that I am a child of divinity. The lack or abundance I have cannot make me more or less His daughter.
The style of my hair, the design on my clothes, the house I live in, the car I drive, the size of my bank account, or the behavior of my family cannot change this eternal truth either. This knowledge is a treasure that no thief can rob me of. And however someone may try to victimize me, I cannot be a victim unless I choose to be; because being a victim is a state of being. As long as I am His daughter that is who I am. For I am not my painful experiences. Nor am I my happy ones. For they are only experiences and are not a "who" but are merely the what, where, and when I experience in being who I am.
In the scope of the perspective of this eternal truth, the experiences lose their power to overwhelm and control you. It is with this knowing that you can begin to see your life experiences for what they are; opportunities to learn and grow to become more like Christ. Each experience is a chance to develop a deeper relationship with God and turn a little faith into great faith.
It is in understanding the truth of who we are, His children, that we put on our protective armor and see the true nature of our power. This is what makes the impossible possible and allows us to witness miracles. This is what makes us infinite, invincible, and powerful beyond measure. This is what heals us; the truth that who we are is greater than any experience. It is simply that the experiences we have are uniquely designed to show us who we are, if we let them.
Unfortunately we often fall prey to the trap that we are our experiences. In this way of thinking, what does it mean about us when we have negative experiences? And since we often have painful or scary experiences and experiences where we choose to act in less than ideal ways; we feel less than deserving and unworthy of the gift of being God's children and all that entails. But if we can see our experiences for the learning and growing opportunities that they are we can allow them to help us transcend our feeling and accepting anything less than the truth; that we are children of God.
If you can allow your experiences to show you how you are His child, how much He loves you, and what you are capable of as His child; your heart will heal and you will be free of the pain that feeling separated from God causes. I ask you to put aside the story of your life and embrace the truth that you are a child of God; a child of your Father who loves you. When you do this, you will become the gift to the world that you were always meant to be. For every child is a gift to the parents who love them.
And you were never meant to be anything less.
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