BenjaminGen Devotional (August 28)

Robin Gunawan

Introduction

I believe everyone of us here face troubles and discouraging situations at some point in time. There are times when we feel like giving up because of the obstacles ahead; however, I believe that every single time we are tempted to do that, the Holy Spirit dwelling in us always prompts us not to. And I believe that the message He has for us today is this:

No matter what difficulty we are in, our victory lies in being able to look beyond the natural and calling the things that don’t exist, as though they did!

If you look up the above verse, you will notice that the person who calls those things that don’t exist as though they did, is not any normal human being, but he is our Father! [Romans 4:17b] If our earthly dads only want the best for us, how much more our heavenly Father! [Matthew 7:11] And because he loves us so much, He wants us to reign in life by learning His methods of doing things!

Peter - From Wavering Reed to Solid Rock

In the Greek language, “Simon” means a “reed”, and “Peter” means a “rock”. Whenever Jesus met Simon, He always calls him “Peter”. In other words, He always calls the wavering reed, a rock!

Although Peter had his name changed by Jesus, he didn’t have his act altogether in an instant. For a long time, he continued acting like a reed that wavers the way the wind blows.

When Peter saw Jesus walking in the water, he said,”Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” However, as he walked on the water, he noticed the boister- ous wind, got scared and when he started sinking, cried out, “Lord, save me!” [Matthew 14: 28-30] On another occasion, he told Jesus, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death”. However, a few hours later, he denied knowing Jesus not only once, but three times!

Notice how even through all of Peter’s failures, Jesus never called him “Simon”? Jesus kept on proclaiming him as a “rock”, and His faith paid off finally, when Peter got 3,000 people saved on the Day of Pentecost through his preaching! Peter became the pillar (rock) of the early church, just as Jesus had prophesied.[Matthew 16:18]

Conclusion

Friends, calling those things that already exist as though they exist has no power because...they exist! We have a big God and He wants us to look beyond our cur- rent situations and see our victory right now! Granted, not all situations will turn around instantaneously but let us learn to be like Jesus, whose prophesy of Peter came true because He called those things that don’t exist, as though they did!