In the spring of 1995, I pulled into the circle drive in front of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority house at OU to drop my girlfriend off after a date. After she exited my 1986 Prelude, I continued to watch her walk toward the side entrance to the house, simultaneous to my car rolling forward through the circle drive. Oblivious to my surroundings, I was rocked back to reality with a crunching sound . . . I had rolled my driver’s side door into the rear bumper of a car parked on the inside of the circle drive. Thankfully, the car I hit was just fine and after talking it over with that car’s owner, no signs of damage were present. However, the ’86 Prelude was a different story. My door was bent, rendering it inoperable. From then on, my only entrance to the car was Bo and Luke Duke style (through the window). As cool as that sounds, it was actually kind of annoying – and left my car broken and in need of repair. All that because my eyes were not where they should be.
Now, in the story mentioned above, though my car ended up darkened, my future turned out bright. The young woman my eyes followed turned out to be my wife (Kimberly) 16 months later. However, the story illustrates an important point: what we look at and focus on matters.
In Matthew 14:22-33 Jesus approaches His disciples while walking on top of the water. Upon seeing Jesus, Peter calls out to Jesus and asks if he can join Jesus riding the waves. Jesus invites Peter out of the boat, and momentarily, Peter is a walking miracle! However, Peter soon takes his eyes off Jesus to look at the circles of waves swirling around him, and begins to sink – denting his pride in the process. When Peter was focused on Jesus, he did the impossible. When Peter focused on the circumstances around him, he sunk like a rock.
This story serves as a helpful encouragement for you and me. What we focus on in our world matters. But even MORE importantly, WHO we focus on in the world matters. This Sunday at Wildwood we will welcome back the college students, as we continue our “Sink or Stand” series by looking at Matthew 14:22-33 and learning to keep our eyes on Him this year. See you Sunday in our 9:45 or 11:00 service.