Jesus, I Can't Do It Anymore

Pastor Stan Mons

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Sermon Transcription:

The title of today's message is: Jesus, I can't do it anymore. Jesus, I can't do it anymore.

That's a prayer that, over the few years that I've been saved, I've prayed multiple times: "Jesus, I just can't do it anymore." Different situations.Different seasons.Different nations. In my personal case: Jesus, I can't do it anymore. You see, when you become saved—when you run to Jesus because you believe that you can be right with God because of this Jesus—when you run to Him with all your heart, something very special, something very powerful happens in your life. You become born again because you placed all of your hope and trust in Jesus, and He comes to live inside of your heart. He begins to speak to your heart.He begins to change things inside of you that you didn’t even pray about.He begins to change the way you talk. He begins to change the way you walk.He begins to change everything about you. And that gets us so excited, because there are so many things about ourselves, sometimes, that we don't like. Generally, these are the things we like to hide from people. Generally, these are the things that we just put in a lot of strength and effort to behave how we know we should be outside. And then, behind the front door at home, we're just actually living ourselves. And it becomes a little bit of two different people.

The Bible explains that all of us have kind of two different people inside. The Word calls it the man of the flesh and the spiritual man. The spiritual man is now made alive together in God—your spirit—that is going to be saved, that is going to receive a new body when this old body dies. But we are still today in this body. And the Word tells us this fleshly body is sold under sin. This fleshly body is not saved. So this fleshly body still one day is going to die—even though you are going to have eternal life, this body does not have eternal life. And so, the Bible explains that the spirit and the flesh are contrary. They're constantly at war. They want different things. They talk different ways. And generally, if you know somebody that has been saved by Jesus Christ and you spend some time with them, it doesn't take long before you know: today you are walking in the flesh, or today you are really walking by the Spirit. You can tell pretty easily, because they're very much so two different people. Amen? And one day we're going to leave behind the flesh. And now only what Jesus has accomplished—a new spirit, made alive in God, and then a new body also, perfectly made by the Lord—then we only have left what Jesus has done. And then it's all going to be good. Amen?

We're not there today. Amen? That's where you say, Amen, we're not there today. Jesus, I can't do it anymore. When you become saved, when that incredible miracle takes place—where God lifts your sin and your shame off of your life—and Jesus shows to your heart like nobody else can that He has made you right with the Father, it's a finished work. You'll never have to do anything ever again to be right with God. It is where worship starts. It is where joy begins. Even though we are an ongoing work—we are an ongoing process in the way that we learn to walk out the Spirit and not the flesh—but when that miracle has taken place, we receive a purpose. In other words, God made us in the womb. But when He did, He had a purpose in mind. And when we became born again, we are now able to start walking out that purpose for which God actually made us. And it is no surprise that if God made you with a purpose in mind, you will only really feel satisfied—and that you're getting something out of life—when you're actually walking out the purpose for which you were made.

When you are living out a life and it's not the life you were made for, you kind of feel like an ill-fitting puzzle piece. You can tell when you look at the picture that it's in the right puzzle—it's just not in the right place. So it feels kind of fitting, because I'm part of the right puzzle, but it doesn't fully fit. It doesn't fully satisfy. It doesn't fully hit that spot, if you will. When you walk into the purpose, you walk into unity—and so much closer to the Lord—because you're walking out what was on His mind. Now, when we start to do that, we call that our ministry. The word ministry just means serving, and that's an unselfish word—that's a serving word, right? When we—before we get saved—we are, generally speaking, quite self-centered. If it's not good for me, why would I do it?If it doesn't benefit my life, why would I put so much effort on it? If it doesn't enrich me financially, why would I be doing this? And that is logic to us. It's called worldly wisdom. It makes sense to all of us—until we get saved. And Jesus comes alive into our heart. And the very Lord who came to serve and not to be served in this world now takes up residence in our life and begins to teach our heart a whole different concept, where we begin to enjoy serving.

That's what the word ministry means: it is serving. And so, every person that Jesus comes alive in has a purpose to serve—has a ministry. Now, whether your ministry is out on the street, and once a week you meet somebody at the bus stop and you get to listen to them and maybe pray for them or tell them about Jesus Christ… or whether your ministry happens right here at Safe House Church on the platform… or whether your ministry is undercover in your family, because nobody knows Jesus and you're just shining the light—and one day, at the right year and the right season, at the right time, you're going to be able to share what was on God's heart for that person and they give their life to Jesus. There’s people that I’ve waited on 10 years—and let me tell you, they're worth the wait. Because God will give that day, and that right year, and that right season, when God's people wait and when God's people serve. So your ministry can be different for every single one of us. But it will always be this: it will always be a serving ministry. It's about other people.

It's not convenient for me.It's not necessarily what I like or what I want or what fits for my life.It doesn't necessarily make my life better.But it serves a purpose in other people's lives, and it serves a purpose in God's kingdom. Now, you can walk fully in your ministry and have a secular job your entire life. Not all ministry is on a platform. Most ministry is where the people are. Amen? You may bring some people here. You may go out and meet some people. But when this church disperses every Sunday and Tuesday and Friday, you guys are in touch with so many people between then and the next service. This is your serving opportunity. These are the people you serve—by walking in the Spirit, not walking in the flesh. Because they get to see something:"If this is real, this is different. If this is real, I would like to know—how in the world are you able to walk this out?" If you are able to deal with the preparations, the hard work, the pressure of being on the platform and always being ready, always making sure all of your junk you leave behind in prayer alone with Jesus so that you can always show up on the platform to serve—as a drummer, as a singer, as an instrument player—how? How? How are you always consistently able to have a serving life?

Those questions can come up. And just as much as on the platform—on the job—when you have a bad day or a bad temper, you and I know that we have just set back the purpose of God in us serving people. We've set that back, in some cases, years. A good day doesn't make it move forward years. But a bad day of you walking in the flesh can kick it back an uncomfortable step. Amen? You ever been there? Mhm. Mhm. I've been there. And I remember every single one of those times. And I pray to God that I will remember them, because they keep me in a place where I remember I was saved so that I—someone like me—would be able to live a serving life. But I know there's two people:The fleshly Stan, and the spiritual Stan that has been made alive with Jesus. One of my teachers in Bible college always used to say, "It's not complicated. Whichever one you feed more is the one that's going to be stronger when they get in the ring. Whichever one you feed more, you can expect to win when the battle gets real—because the spirit and the flesh are contrary towards one another."

Jesus, I can't do it anymore. Sometimes we come to a place where we cannot walk the walk anymore that we've been called to walk out. Whether that is you—when you serve again on the platform, in the street, in your job, in your family, just raising your kids in a God-filled environment that you never got as a kid—whatever your ministry may be, there are times where we hit a wall and we say: "Jesus, I can't do it anymore. I can still look fine in front of people. I can still make it look good towards my kids. But somewhere deep inside, I know that it's not quite the excellence, or it's not quite the depth of the call that, deep inside, I know God is calling me to. I can't do that anymore." And then you begin to feel something isn't quite right.You begin to feel like something is not working well between you and Jesus.It seems to work well for other people.There seem to be other people that maybe are closer to Jesus, or more trusting towards Jesus, or more right with Jesus, or more called by Jesus.

But for you and your life—and we may not say it this way—but that's how our heart feels.We feel something isn't quite right, and something isn't working well between me and Jesus.It's not working as well as it is in the lives of other people. And very often, if not almost always, people begin to feel that they are not fully right with God."Yes, I believe I'm forgiven, but right now, I don't feel very highly favored because I can't quite walk out what I used to be able to walk out. I can't quite fulfill my ministry the way..." "Oh pastor, if you know how long ago it is that I actually told somebody about Jesus... and I used to have one person that the Lord just—it was like the Lord set it up—it’d be once a week at least, and now I can't even remember the last person." When you begin to back out of your ministry—the life you were called to serve—you start to feel like something isn't quite right. And very often, that something is not working well between you and Jesus. And the greatest temptation—I've seen it time and time again—is that people say: "Okay, well, th-this is... I can't help this. I've tried so hard. I'm trying to do everything right. I'm fighting through this. I know what I should be doing. I'm trying to do it, and I'm trying to stay faithful, and I'm trying to push through it, and I'm trying to find somebody—when I remember—to tell about Jesus, but I don't remember as much anymore... I can't do it anymore, Jesus. Jesus, I can't do it."

I want to take you to a story where that happened to one of the disciples. Matthew 14, starting in verse 22. We're going to read it from the NLT version. Matthew 14, starting in verse 22:Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. Now when you and I read that "Jesus insisted," you got to pay attention, Church. Now, you've had these moments in your life where Jesus insisted—and it goes something like this:The Lord whispers something to your heart.It may be so quiet.It may be so small.But everything inside of you knows. You may not be able to explain it, but you know you have to do it—or you know you have to stop doing something. You feel that Jesus insisted. When Jesus insists, that means He has a plan.He has a plan—sometimes for what you should be doing, and sometimes He has a plan for what you should not be doing.But in every case, it's not hard to tell when Jesus insists, because we feel it with all of our heart right then and there in the moment. And we get to then commit to what Jesus is showing us—or we run away from Him.

But here, Jesus insists that His disciples get back into the boat. It's very important that we read the Word of God and that we understand:Jesus takes a little bit of His authority and insists and says, "You need to get into this boat right now, and you need to go. And I'm not coming." That’s what He does. Verse 23: After sending them home, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. Night fell while He was there alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land. That’s where Jesus sent them—into trouble. The disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. About 3:00 in the morning, Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw Him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” But Jesus spoke to them at once: “Don’t be afraid,” He said. “Take courage. I am here.” Now here it comes. Then Peter called to Him, “Lord, if it is really You, tell me to come to You, walking on the water.”

“Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.

You see, if you’ve ever had a life storm happening—if you’ve ever had a situation where you were trying to work through things in life—whether you were trying to get rid of the sin you were walking around with, or trying to deal with a marriage problem, or facing a financial obstacle that were not sure you were going to overcome—whatever storm you may have faced in life if you ever did. And all of the sudden Jesus shows up and says, “Don’t worry. Take courage. I am here,” then you’ve had a moment like Peter had. A moment that says, “Lord, if You are here, then the impossible can happen. Lord, if You are here, then I believe You can do a miracle in my life and cause me to walk where I cannot walk. Lord, if You are here, then call me forward. Everybody else may be staying in the boat, but Jesus, I’m going all the way with You. I want this miracle. I believe You for this miracle. And if You are here, none of this storm is going to be a problem for my life.” You’ve been there—if you’ve ever had a storm and Jesus whispered to your heart, or a scripture came alive inside of you, and hope poured into you from God. You said, “God, I believe You can do this." And all of a Sudden, nobody may have understood, nobody may have been there, but the Lord launched you into your serving life—into your ministry. He launched you into having joy when all you knew was anger. He settled things in your life. He did miracles for you, and it was literally like you were walking on water.

Nobody else was walking that way. Nobody else was trusting that way. But you were having a grand old time with Jesus Christ. Everything worked out. Nothing was too much pressure. Nothing was too difficult. Everything worked. It wasn’t hard—it was miraculous. And you kept walking. And here’s Peter. The other disciples are staying in the boat. But here’s Peter, taking one step after another—living through one of the greatest miracles he had ever experienced at that point in his life. He’s right in the midst of it. His Lord is right there. And he is enjoying it. Everything works. The power of God—the miracle—is literally carrying him where he should not be able to walk. And then we read verse 30: “But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted.” Now I’ll tell you this—Peter, that wasn’t the first moment he noticed the storm. They had been battling those waves and that wind for hours. Peter knew about the storm. Peter had seen the storm.

Peter was—was—was fighting against the storm, and then Jesus showed up. It wasn't like Jesus, for the first time right here, noticed the storm. That's not what the Bible is saying. What is it trying to show us? What is it referring to? It is the believer—like Peter—who has been called out of the boat, walking that supernatural walk: your ministry, your serving. You're seeing your marriage go back uphill. You're seeing your heart change, your life change. You're seeing people begin to listen to you when you talk about Jesus. None of that was happening before—until Jesus called you out of that boat. And Jesus called you in the midst of the storm, where He found you. And now you're just walking on water. It’s all working. And then, all of a sudden, Peter—alongside so many of us believers at different seasons in our lives—Peter starts to notice that wind that’s been there all along, and the storm all along. And he starts to think, I should not be able to walk on this water. I haven’t walked perfectly with Jesus. Why would I be able to walk on this water? And a question begins to rise in his heart. We’re going to see that in the Word. He begins to question things. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere it seems, Peter sinks in the water.

Was Jesus’s miracle not powerful enough? Did Jesus not have the ability to hold Peter up on top of the water, as he used to be walking? Is Jesus not able to make you succeed in your ministry, in your serving, in your marriage—whatever it may be today? Is He not able to carry that miracle on today in your life? That’s not the case. Why does Peter sink in the waves when he notices the storm? The Word says: "And the wind and the waves... he was terrified and began to sink. 'Save me, Lord!' he shouted." He’s saying, “Jesus, I can’t do this anymore.” A couple of steps—however many it was—he walked on the water. He walked in miraculous power. He walked out what he could not walk out, and it must have been amazing. And then he begins to sink, and he cries out to Jesus: “Jesus, I can’t do this anymore. Jesus, help, I am sinking in this place. I walked for a little bit in this place, but now it’s becoming too much—too heavy—and I sink. I cannot do it anymore, Lord. What a storm is going on around me. I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I can walk on water. I shouldn’t be able to walk on water. Others may be called. It may be their time now to walk on water. I can’t do it anymore. Jesus, I cannot walk on the water.”

And it is as if Jesus replies to Peter and says, “I know.”

Verse 31:“Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. 'You have so little faith,' Jesus said. 'Why did you doubt me?'” Why did you doubt Me? Church, when you are breaking—when you are ready to give up, no matter what it may be—when you cannot go on anymore, what you have done is you have begun to look at yourself and say: “I can’t do this. I can’t continue serving like this. I can’t continue ministering like this. I can’t continue walking on the water like this. I can’t continue pouring into my marriage like this. I can’t continue putting up with my kid like this. I can’t continue to walk this out.” You have begun to look at yourself and say: “Jesus, I cannot do it anymore.”

That you cannot do it, Church, is not the problem. Jesus knows you cannot do it. He never called you to do it. The problem is that you have begun to doubt Jesus—what He is willing to do, what He is going to do, and that He is going to do it just for you. That is where the problem lies. And Jesus points it out. Now, I believe the Lord really wants us to get this in the spirit—not in your fleshly man, but in the spiritual man. Because the flesh always—and you can, in Dutch we say, you can set your watch to this, you can count on it—it’ll happen: your flesh will always be pulling you toward unbelief. Remember, whichever one you feed is ready to get into the ring. Your flesh will always be pulling you toward unbelief. But the spiritual man, the spiritual woman, always gravitates toward the Lord. Feed your spiritual man, and he’ll be ready to get into the ring. But our flesh is always—don’t ever forget this—the flesh is always going to be pulling toward unbelief. And remember: Jesus is not looking for you to be able to do it—whatever it may be. It represents that walking on the water, that miraculous walk where you are walking out what only Jesus can produce in your life.

Whether that is walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh of how you used to be, or whether that’s walking out your ministry of serving and seeing people, one way or another, fall more and more in love with Jesus—being a part of the functioning body and putting in your serving—whatever it represents in your life. Jesus is not looking for you to be able to do it.He wants you to believe that He can do it, and that He is willing to do it for you.That He’s willing to show up and carry you. The Bible tells us: “All things are possible for him who believes.” Anytime we find ourselves—anytime I find myself—saying,“Jesus, I can’t anymore. I’m done. I’m tired. I’m worn out. I can’t, Jesus. I cannot do it anymore. I can’t commit like that. I can’t show up like that. I can’t. I can’t.” The Bible says:“All things are possible for him who believes.”

Peter walking on the water was possible because he believed Jesus was out there calling him. He believed Jesus was showing up in the storm just for him. He believed Jesus was calling him to walk in a miracle that he could never do by himself. He began to doubt Jesus, and all of a sudden—sinking. No more supernatural power."It's too much, Jesus. I cannot do this anymore."

You never could.You never were able to walk that serving life, that Christian life, that building-up-your-marriage life, that bringing-your-Christlike-children-to-Him life. You could never have done it. You could have never performed it. It was all His miracle—carrying you, causing you to walk on water. And then, when we find ourselves in a season where everything gets heavy and we're sinking in everything that used to be testimony, the problem is not that you can't do it anymore—because you never were able to do it.

The problem is: you have begun to doubt Jesus. The symptom of doubting Jesus is sinking into your life. That’s the symptom when we doubt Jesus—doubting that He’s here for us, doubting that we’re right with Him even though we can’t do it, doubting that He is willing to do this miracle in my life at this time, even though I don’t deserve it. When we doubt these things, we begin to sink into them and drown in them—even though God called us to be a demonstration of what He was able to do while we were walking right on top of it. When we doubt, we begin to sink.But for him who believes, all things are possible. And because I believe Jesus wants us to get this so deeply into our heart—imagine with me for just a moment. Imagine with me—because I want you to see how God looks at this, especially when you feel: "I can’t do this. And now I feel like a lesser Christian, or I feel like I failed God, or I feel like God is moving forward with other people, not with me anymore."

Imagine with me an entire month in your life—just for you personally. Don’t think of your neighbor. Don’t think of your husband. Don’t think of your wife. Don’t think of your children or your pastor. For a whole month, no sin. For a whole month, you are able to live life finally the way you know you are called to live it. No anger outbursts for a month. No lustful desire after something you would like to purchase and buy in this world, but you don’t have the money to do so. No wrong sexual thoughts. Nothing wrong. For a whole month, you are able to walk it out. You are walking on that water. You are doing great. And instead, what you are doing is this. Every day you read your Word—at the right time, for the right length. Every day you take time to privately worship Jesus and bless His holy name. Every day you pray without ceasing. You feed the hungry. You tell a person about Jesus. Every day of your walk, your ministry, where you’re called to serve—whatever it may be—you’re doing it great. You’re making everybody happy. Nobody is being difficult with you. Everyone is grateful for how you’re walking it out.

Imagine how you would feel when, for an entire month, you are able to walk away from everything that is wrong and not do any of it, and everything you should be doing, you are doing a good job with all of it. For an entire month. How good that would feel. A whole month.

How would God feel if we finally simply do what we should be doing? The Bible mentions it to us—arguably with the most strong language that you can find in the Word. And we read it in Isaiah 64:6. I’m just giving you a partial there from the Amplified version. It says this:“All our deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags.” So this scripture is explaining how God would feel about you when, for an entire month, you are not doing anything wrong. No mess-ups. No ill intentions of the heart. Not saying the right thing but thinking the wrong thing—none of it. You're not aware of anything wrong. No conviction of wrong at all. The Holy Spirit? You gave Him a vacation. He was able to just leave for a while, because—you got this. And then you served fully. You did everything you needed to do. Never ran late. Always everything done well. This is how God would feel about it.

The Word tells us:All our deeds of righteousness—our good works—are like filthy rags. This word “filthy,” because God is really trying to make you get it, this word is only used one time in the entire Bible. One time. Here’s what it means:This word “filthy” is a reference to a woman’s monthly cycle. That’s what God is saying. “Your good works—when you’re living life exactly the way you should be—your good works are like a rag to me that is filthy from a cycle.” God says, “You're trying to do everything so right. You care so much about doing it right. But when I look at it—I just want to throw it out. It’s dirty to me. It’s gross to me.” So if you say today, “I can’t do it anymore—whatever it is—I can’t do it anymore,”That’s not the problem. God throws your righteous works out anyway.He’s not waiting for you to finally be able to live it out and do it the way you should. But here’s another verse with very strong language in the Bible that shows us—that teaches us what God actually values: 1 Peter 1:7 (New King James Version)“That the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Your good works? Filthy rags.Your faith? More precious than gold.

God is trying to get a picture across to you and me. It doesn’t matter that you can’t do it. It doesn’t matter that it’s too much. It doesn’t matter that you don’t have the strength. It doesn’t matter that you mess up everything you put your hands to. That was never the problem.

The problem is: Do you believe that I will do it for you? Do you believe that I will give the miracle to you—so that you can walk on water where you cannot walk, where you cannot perform, where you cannot accomplish? Do you believe that I’m showing up for you, that I love you, that I’m going to do it for you?Or do you doubt it? That is the only thing that matters.

“The genuineness of your faith—being much more precious than gold.” Look at the contrast:A rag, a filthy rag or more precious than gold.

God is showing us what actually matters. What He actually cares about. He’s not looking for somebody that can do it.He’s looking for somebody that will trust with all of their heart—that because of the blood-stained cross: Jesus is showing up in my storm.Jesus is calling me out of the boat.Jesus is going to cause me to walk on water.Jesus is going to carry me when I don’t do it right.Jesus is going to do it. Who believes in the body of Christ today—that when they are in a storm, there is no problem? There is a God that is present. There are waves and there is wind—but in my life, it is going to be a testimony—because I believed on Jesus Christ, the Son of God. What do we learn from the Word of God today? What do we learn for our lives when we say—and I’ve been there, Church, many times: “God, I can’t do this anymore. I feel like I’m going to break. I’m at my last straw. I am literally sinking, and I’m going to drown. I was called to be able to walk on this water. But I feel like a failure. I feel like if I give up, I’m doing a disgrace unto You, Lord. I’m fighting so hard not to give up. I’m fighting so hard to do everything that’s right. I’m trying to make it float, so to speak, but I’m sinking."

What do we learn? We learn from the Word that it is not a problem that you cannot go on. It’s not a problem. We learn that it’s not a problem that you cannot do it anymore. It’s not a problem that your ability to do righteous works is not very great and is very imperfect. We learn that we are called to believe that Jesus can do what we cannot do, and that He will do it in my life, in your life—because I believe He is the Son of God. That’s what we learn from the Word. There’s no greater expectation on you, church, than to believe God is showing up in my storm because I believed Jesus is the Son of God. God is going to cause me to have a miracle that makes me walk on water and places that I shouldn’t be able to walk. God is going to do it because I believe Jesus is the Son of God. The moment we begin to doubt that—believing that Jesus is the Son of God is enough for God to show up—when we begin to doubt it, we begin to sink in everything that used to be the testimony of our life.

You are called to believe when you fail. You are called to believe when you sin. You are called to believe because God called you to be a man and a woman of faith. What matters to God? Faith—more precious than gold. He’s calling you to become a man of faith. You don’t have to be a man of great actions. You don’t have to be a woman that is able to do it, that is able to perform in the storm, that is able to keep it all together at all times in your life. God called you to be a woman of faith—not a doer. He called you to be a woman of faith. You don’t have to be a man that can do it because Jesus will do it when you trust Him. Romans 3:21-23 says: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

In other words, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter how well you can walk on water, or how well you think you can walk on water. It doesn’t matter how well you think you can make the miracle happen or perform for God. It doesn’t matter how much you think you can do it. It doesn’t matter—because you cannot. It doesn’t matter what you can accomplish. Being right with God in the storm, being right with God on the waves, being right with God in the best season of your life—being right with God does not come from doing and being good.

Being right with God is a gift to you that you never did a thing for—because you believed in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, church.

For you to be in right standing with God in every season of your life, He gave you things to believe, not things to do. Sometimes that's where we get it all mixed up. We come to Jesus believing, and then He launches us into that purpose. He launches us into that ministry. He launches us into that life of purpose that serves others, wherever that may be in your life.

Slowly but surely, we get it all mixed up, and we believe God has called us to do something. And here's where the mix-up happens: when your heart begins to believe that when you're not doing what you're called to do, now your right standing with God is under attack. Now you've got it all mixed up. Your heart—remember that flesh and the spiritual man, they're contrary towards one another. The spirit fights with honor, but not the flesh, church. The flesh and the devil love to partner up with the flesh, sneaky, fighting, trying to get in whatever way possible to corrupt your heart.

Where the mix-up happens is where we begin to feel, when we are not able to do it, when we're not able to walk on water, when we're not able to perform our ministry, when we're not able to do what we should be doing, when we're not able to take on joy and have it all together, when we're not able to do it—our heart begins to feel we're not as right with God as others. We're not as close to God as others. We're not as favored by God as others. We're not expecting from Jesus what others can expect. We're doubting if we can expect Jesus to do everything in my life that He's doing in somebody else's life because I can't do what they are doing. I can't live like they are living. I can't follow like they are following. And we begin to look at ourselves, and Jesus says, "You're doubting me. You're doubting that I would show up for you. That I would gift a miracle to you. Don't doubt me. I can do it—whatever it is."

Church, Jesus is just whispering to your heart today, "But I can do it, and I'm willing to do it because you have believed that I am the Son of God. I never asked more of you. Yes, I seek you out. Yes, I've given you a purpose. But your doing doesn't determine your standing. Your doing never disappoints Me. I called you to believe." When you have it mixed up. You’re not able to do what is right or needed — that’s how you know you’ve got it mixed up. You used to be able to walk on the water; you’re not anymore. That means your heart has it mixed up. You may end up feeling like a failure, and you may end up feeling like Jesus won’t do the miracles in your life, not today, the way He does them in other people’s lives. That’s when you know your heart has it mixed up. But when He saw the strong wind (verse 30) and the waves, He was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” He shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”

You see, when you are struggling in life, when you have a situation in your personal life and you say, “Pastor, it’s like I am sinking into the water. I feel like I don’t know how to swim. It causes me to panic. It causes me to not know what to do. I do shout out to Jesus, I trust Him, I believe He can pull me out, but I can’t walk here,” the Lord Jesus points out that’s exactly why you’re sinking. You don’t believe I’m giving you the same miracle as I’m giving other people. You believe I have favor on others that I don’t have on you. You believe that I’m not going to gift you that miracle today. You still think you have to fix something in your life before you can expect that miracle. You have to learn to walk like Pastor. You have to learn to preach like Brother Nick. Before that happens, you can’t expect God to do these things. You’re looking at your own works and saying, “I can’t do it.” Jesus says, “Why did you doubt me?

There are people in this room, people with us online, and whatever it may represent in your life, you’ve been feeling, “Jesus, I can’t do it anymore.” It’s caused you to want to give up. You feel convicted about giving up because you know that once upon a time you felt you were called to serve like this. You were called to step out like this. You were called to move into something. You were called to commit to something. You don’t want to give up on your marriage. You don’t want to give up on your child. You don’t want to give up on your future. You don’t want to, but everything inside of you is screaming, “I can’t do this anymore.” And here’s the word of the Lord to you: Why did you doubt me? Jesus will show up for one reason and one reason alone — you believe that He is the Son of God. He’ll show up in your storm. He’ll call you out of the boat. He will cause you to walk on water. There’s not a miracle that He will withhold from you because you are His beloved. He loves you. He is for you.

Stop doubting that He is so good that He will show up in your life. Stop doubting that somehow you can’t expect the miracle that the next person is getting. Stop doubting Him because He has a plan for you, and He desires for you to see that not only today does He just pull you up — He’ll pull you right out of it. But He’ll set you back on your feet. He will give you a miracle when you say, “Lord, I repent of all of my doubts, and one more time I’m going to believe with all my heart that my simple faith in the cross is enough for You to always show up. It’s enough for You to do every miracle I’m in need of, Lord. I’m going to believe again that I am highly favored and that I will have Your miracles.” If you are being called by the Holy Spirit, if you just have it in your heart, you want to respond to Him, and you want to say, “Yes, Lord, that’s me. Lord, I want to say that from my heart to You. Lord, I’m going to stop doubting You. I’m going to believe You’re showing up. I’m going to believe I’m going to have the miracle. I’m going to believe that I’m going to walk on water again. I’m going to believe that there’s no one more favored than me because all You’ve ever required of me is to believe on Jesus Christ, the Most High, the Son of God. Lord, I believe that again, or I’m coming back to it.” If that is you and you need that miracle back, I want to invite you to come to the front so that we can pray together and tell the Lord, “Lord, I’m not doubting You anymore. I believe that You’re going to give me the miracle.” Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

-Pastor Stan Mons