The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: Obeying God can sometimes lead to rough sailing.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans says even life’s scariest scenarios serve a higher purpose.

Dr. Tony Evans: Our God specializes in impossible situations and even leads us to them so that we can watch with our own eyes faith overcome fear.

Guest (Male): This is the Alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.

We all feel afraid from time to time. That’s natural. But today, Dr. Evans talks about how to keep moving forward in faith even when fear tries to shut us down. Let’s join him.

Dr. Tony Evans: There’s a lot to be afraid of today. And yet, while there are many things that can create fear or cause fear, God does not want us to be owned by fear. He doesn’t want us to walk around afraid. So I want to give you some principles right now to deal with fear.

Verse 22 says of Matthew 14, immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side while he sent the crowds away. After he had sent the crowds away, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. And when it was evening, he was there alone. But the boat was already a long distance from land, battered by the waves, for the winds were contrary. Obeying God can sometimes lead to rough sailing.

The first thing I want you to know when life makes you fearful, and you're going to see how afraid these disciples were in a moment, is that if you have committed yourself to Jesus Christ and to the best of your knowledge you are operating in His will, then that situation that's making you fearful, Jesus put you in.

Second principle: when you’re in a scary situation, I want you to know Jesus is praying for you. It says in verse 23 he went up to the mountain by himself to pray, and he was there alone. In Luke 22, Jesus told Peter, "Peter, I'm praying for you." What are you praying for Peter, Jesus? Jesus says, "I'm praying that your faith fail not."

I am praying that your faith fail not. Why? Because when you have been terrorized by something, it’s easy for your faith to fail. It’s easy for you to stop believing God. It’s easy for you to stop trusting God. It’s easy for you to believe that if I hadn't followed God, I wouldn't be in this mess. It’s easy for your faith to fail when you’re in a terrorizing situation and you are afraid. He said, "Peter, I’m praying that you hang in there and don’t walk away from me because the going has gotten tough."

And if the truth were told, there are many people here whose fear has caused their faith to fail. It’s the single person who’s afraid that if I follow Jesus, I may never get married. I’m afraid I’ll be single all my life. And the temptation of faith failing causes them to marry a non-Christian even though they know that’s not God’s will.

It’s the person who has no biblical grounds for divorce, but they just don’t want to be married anymore because they’re not happy. So the temptation is for the faith to fail because they’re afraid I’m going to be in this miserable relationship for the rest of my life. And the faith fails. Jesus says, "I’m interceding. I know it’s hard. I know the waves are beating you down and are beating you to death, but I pray that your faith does not fail."

In fact, when Mark 6 says it, talks about it, it says and Jesus saw them struggling. They were in the middle of the water, they were rowing their boats, and they’re trying to go this way, but it says the wind was contrary. In other words, the wind was blowing the opposite direction and it was strong and beating the boat to death. In other words, they’re trying to get where God tells them to go and the wind won’t let them.

Jesus, why tell me to go there if you’re not going to let me get there? Why tell me to do this if you’re not going to help me get it done? Why are you sending me through all this trouble and I’m making no progress? Does anybody know what I’m talking about? I’m making no progress, and not only am I not making no progress, I’m scared. I’m scared because I’m being beat down with these winds and waves and problems and difficulties and I’m not getting anywhere.

It says Jesus saw them struggling. He’s watching them struggle. Now it’s 3:00 or 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. That means it’s dark if it's the fourth watch. They are four miles out because the Sea of Galilee is about eight miles long, so they’re halfway, they’re in the middle, they’re three and a half, four miles out. There are no lights on the Sea of Galilee. It’s pitch black. How is Jesus going to be seeing them struggle? That is, unless He’s got eyes that are not like your normal 20/20, but I guess being the Son of God, you can see things.

God sees your struggle. He sees your fear. He sees that the waves of life are beating at you and you don’t know that you can make it, and you are scared to death. He sees that and He’s praying for you. Thirdly, Jesus will come to you. Verse 25: and in the fourth watch of the night, He came to them walking on the sea. This is sweet. This is so sweet, I don’t even know what to say. I just want to give the benediction and go home.

Watch this now. They are scared to death. You’re going to see that in just a second. They’re terrified because they don’t know whether they’re going to live or die. And they don’t know whether they’re going to live or die doing what Jesus told them to do. Jesus knew where they were. He’s praying for them. Now He’s walking on the water. Jesus came to them on top of the thing that was wrong. In other words, Jesus allows fearful situations in our lives so that He can come to us in a way He has never come to us before.

Look at the next verse. It says, and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. And they said, "It is a ghost." And they cried out in fear. Peter said to him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." That’s rich. And that’s Pete. I have my top 10 of things I want to see God play back. I want to see like the Red Sea opening up. I want to see the real deal of the Red Sea opening up. I’m going to say play that one back. I want to see that. I want to see the burning bush. That’s another thing I want to see. So I’ve got like a top 10. And one of my top 10 is Jesus walking on the water.

I want to see that one. I want a replay on that one. Peter says, "Bid me to come and walk on the water." Now the question is why would he make that kind of request? Why would he make that? "If this is you, tell me I can come to you on the same problem you’re coming to me on because it’s a storm and he’s walking on top of the circumstances." Everybody else is terrified by the circumstances. He says, "Jesus, you’re walking on the circumstances. Can I walk on them too? Can I join you in not being overcome by it but standing on top of it? Can I join you?"

Let me tell you two things Peter is saying here. He’s saying, number one, I’d rather be with you out there than my posse in here. I’d rather be with you out there. And it’s risky out there, but I’d rather be with you out there than all my homeboys in here. But the main thing Peter is saying, here's the main thing he's saying, he’s saying I want more. I want to experience more than I’ve ever experienced before. And if you tell me to come, I’m willing to take a step of faith and experience something I never thought possible because I’m going to join you in what you’re already doing.

He didn’t want to be satisfied to stay in the boat. He didn’t want to be satisfied just to be delivered from the storm. He said, before you fix this problem, let me join you in walking on it. Before you ever fix it, I want to see what it feels like to be on top of a situation. See, most of us are praying one prayer: get me out of it because I’m scared. What Peter says is before you get me out of it, his prayer wasn't get me out of it, show me what it feels like to walk on it. Show me what it feels like to stand on top of the problem, to stand on top of the fear, to stand on top of the confusion, to stand on top of the terror and walk on it. Bid me come. Jesus said to him, "Okay, Peter, come."

Guest (Male): Dr. Evans will return in a moment to tell us more about how to keep our faith in focus as he continues this message from his series Free at Last. If there's any area of your life where you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or held back, this 12-message collection was created with you in mind. These 12 lessons address real-life struggles like feeling trapped by the past, weighed down by fear, discouraged in the present, or uncertain about the future, and show you how God's truth brings real freedom in each of these areas.

We want you to experience that freedom for yourself. So when you make a contribution to support the ministry, we'll send you the complete Free at Last series as our thank you gift. And along with it, you'll receive Tony's companion book, Free at Last, a powerful resource that helps you understand your identity in Christ and live it out with confidence. Request the entire package today at tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 and let our resource team assist you anytime. That's 1-800-800-3222.

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Unbound with Dr. Tony Evans. Listen now. You can hear the Unbound podcast anytime of the day or night on your favorite podcast streaming platform. Well, Dr. Evans is back now with more of today's lesson from Matthew chapter 14.

Dr. Tony Evans: Verse 29: Peter got out of the boat, walked on the water, and came to Jesus. That had to be an experience of a lifetime. Peter got to join Jesus on top of the problem. And guess where Jesus wants you to join Him? On top of it. But seeing the wind, he became, here we go, frightened. He’s scared. And beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me."

What happened to him is what happens to us. We’re okay as long as we’re looking at Jesus. But the moment the circumstances remind us how bad things are, you ain’t going to get out of this, you're going to drown, fear takes over. It says he became frightened. Why? Because he lost focus. He lost focus on Jesus and the fact that he was now walking on the water with Jesus. And now he’s looking at the circumstances.

And what does the scripture tell us? He began to sink. When you change your focus, you change your stability. When his focus was right, he’s walking on top of his problem. When his focus changes, his problem is sucking him under. He’s beginning to sink. And beginning to sink, he cried out. He didn't wait until he was all up under the water gurgling. As soon as he saw his heels go down to his ankles, coming up toward his knees, he said, "I ain’t going to delay this thing. Help! Jesus, save me."

And immediately Jesus reached down. Now look at what Jesus said. Jesus reached down and said, "Ye of little faith, why did you doubt?" Now there's a whole lot of lesson there. Number one, he didn’t say ye of no faith. He said ye of little faith because he had enough faith to leave the boat. See, the other disciples had no faith because they didn't go nowhere. Faith involves movement. You can tell me all day long I want to get out of debt. If you don’t start honoring God, then that’s talk, that’s not faith.

Faith demands movement. He had little faith because it lifted up his foot and it carried him out of the boat. But the reason why it was little is because he used it to get started but he didn’t use it to keep going. Little faith is where you get started because you trust Him, but then you allow circumstances to cause you to stop trusting Him. And the reason we know you stop trusting Him is you stop walking. You stop walking. You stop moving because you don’t see any way you’re going to get out of this. You just see this thing is so scary that if I keep going, I’m going to drown, not believing that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. He not only wants you to get started, He wants you to complete the task.

He wants you to finish. And he says, "Why did you doubt?" What made him doubt? Same thing that makes us doubt: the circumstances. They were negative circumstances, and yet they were in the will of God. So he responds. Peter cries out. Now appreciate this. Mark 6 says they had not learned the lesson of the loaves and the fishes. Well, that’s the story that precedes this story.

What was the lesson? Well, the loaves and the fish was an impossible situation. How am I going to feed 5,000 men, not counting women and children? Verse 21 says. How am I going to feed 20,000 people with two fish and five barley loaves? It doesn’t make sense. It can’t happen. It doesn’t make economic sense. It doesn’t seem like financially that can work. They were in an impossible situation.

And the Bible says Jesus stood up in this impossible situation with not nearly enough to meet his need and gave thanks. How you going to give thanks for not enough? He gave thanks for not enough. They got enough food and they got 12 baskets full left over. So they saw God, watch this, do the impossible. Immediately it says He sent them out across the sea. Why did He send them out so quick?

He sent them out quick to see, I heard you say "Amen." "Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus." I heard all that in church. I heard you affirm. I showed you what I could do. I want to see whether you really learned the lesson or were you just talking? So I’m going to put you in a fearful situation that looks like it has no way out, and I’m going to see whether you believe the stuff you’re praising God about. It says they didn’t learn the lesson of the loaves and the fish. They didn’t learn the lesson.

Our God specializes in impossible situations and even leads us to them so that we can watch with our own eyes faith overcome fear. When they, Peter and Jesus, got into the boat, verse 32 says, the wind stopped. It doesn’t stop till they get into the boat. So that makes me respect Peter a lot. Even though his faith got weak, he was willing to meet Jesus in a storm, not say Jesus just fix the storm. When they got into the boat, it stopped.

And guess what? John, when he tells the story, John tells us something that Matthew and Mark don’t tell us. John says in John chapter 6 that when they welcomed Jesus into the boat, they had reached the place, the land where they were going. They said, "Truly you are the Son of God." Better yet, they just got their praise on. Oh, that’s why the Psalmist says in Psalm 34, he says this, he says, "Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together."

Then he goes on in Psalm 34 and says, "This poor man cried unto the Lord and the Lord delivered him from all of his fears." And then he says how the Lord delivered him from all of his fears. He says, "My fears looked up to him and became radiant." Fears are darkness. He said, "But when my fears saw Jesus, my fears began to smile." It’s like a parent coming into a bedroom with a child who's scared of a storm outside and thunder and lightning, and the parent shows up in the darkness and grabs the child. The storm is still out there, but the fears have now looked to the parent and the child can fall asleep. See, you need to tell your fears what to do. You need to say, "Fear, instead of talking to me, I want you talking to Him. Tell Him how scared you are. Tell Him how insecure you are." Fears talk to Jesus and they were radiant.

You know what Jesus wants you to do? He wants you to discover He’s the Son of God. He wants you to discover that He is bigger than you ever thought, even when you’re in a scary situation. He wants you to see something you’ve never seen before. Stephen was being stoned to death, the Bible says. Saul, before he became a Christian, was overseeing the stoning. And they put him in this little pit and the Pharisees began to take rocks and throw it at Stephen and throw it at Stephen.

That’s a fearful situation when you're being stoned to death. But the Bible says as the stones started flying to Stephen, Stephen looked up and saw heaven open. And he saw Jesus Christ standing at the right hand of the Father so that he could even look at the folks stoning and say, "Forgive them, because they don’t know what they’re doing." Where do you get that from? Jesus showing up in another way when you’re in a fearful situation. How He’s going to show up to calm your fears, I don’t know. I do know this: He knows where you are, He’s praying for you, He’s coming to you, He’s going to grow you through this situation so you can get your praise on because you’ve seen Him in a way you’ve never seen Him before.

Guest (Male): Dr. Tony Evans with the encouraging truth that overcoming fear can build our faith. He'll return in a moment with a dramatic illustration to wrap up today's lesson. Right now, though, he's here with a word about one of the biggest fears human beings face: what happens to us when this life is over?

Dr. Tony Evans: If you want to know for certain that you're on your way to heaven when you die, then I invite you right now to go to Jesus Christ and let Him know that you believe He died for you, that you believe He arose for you, and that you want to put your trust in Him alone for the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of eternal life. If you really want to go to heaven, He'll give you a free ticket there, but you must go to Him for it and believe Him to give it to you. If you do that, you'll be saved right now.

Guest (Male): Find out more about what it means to be a real Christian. Visit tonyevans.org and follow the link that says Jesus. There, Tony will explain everything you need to know and you'll find some free resources to get your new life started right. And no matter how long you've been a Christian, there's always room to grow. And sometimes that growth begins with understanding what God has already done for you. That's exactly what Tony's Free at Last series is all about.

This 12-message collection will help you break free from the struggles that hold you back and step into the life God designed you to live. When you make a contribution to support the ministry, we'll send you the complete series along with Tony's companion book, Free at Last, as our thank you gift. Make your request today at tonyevans.org. Again, that's tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222 where a friendly member of our resource team is ready to help 24/7. That's 1-800-800-3222.

Christians experience emotional pain just like anybody else, but Dr. Evans says we're sometimes better at hiding it. Be sure to join us Monday as he explains how God can heal those hurts and meet our emotional needs in healthy ways. Right now, though, he has this final lesson for today.

Dr. Tony Evans: There’s a little blind girl who was up in an apartment complex that had caught fire. And she could feel the flames getting nearer and she felt her way to the window because she knew the house, but she was many stories up. The window was open and the fireman said, "Jump! Jump!" But she was scared, terrified. But the fire is coming, but she can’t see down there. "Jump, young lady! Jump, jump now!"

All she could say is, "I’m scared! I’m scared!" "No, you’ve got to jump now!" She said, "I’m scared, I can’t see, it’s dark." It wouldn’t be long before she’d be engulfed in the fire. In the midst of that fear, a voice rang out, "Darling, baby, jump now!" She leaped out of the window and was caught by her father. See, when a whole bunch of folk were saying jump, there was no security in that.

But when she heard her daddy’s voice, when Daddy said jump, when Daddy said I know you can’t see and I know you’re scared, but go ahead and jump because Daddy’s got you, I don’t know what’s causing you to be afraid, I know that Daddy’s saying walk by faith. Jump! Because Daddy, your heavenly Father, knows where you are, and He’s going to catch you in His arms. May God give you peace in turbulent times.