I'm not sure I trust God right now.  

Matthew 14

22  Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.
23  After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
24  but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25  During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.
26  When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27  But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28  “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29  “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31  Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32  And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
33  Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Faith and Doubt

(1)        What is faith?

(2)        What is doubt?

(3)        Is doubt sin?

(4)        Is doubt the same as unbelief?

(5)        According to this story, did Peter have faith?

(6)        On what did his faith rest?

(7)        How significant is the word “if” in verse 28?

(8)        Did Peter have doubt?

(9)        Can people of great faith also have doubt?

(10)      What did Peter do when doubt began to attack his faith?

(11)      What was Jesus’ response to Peter’s doubt?

 (12)      James 1:5-8 says: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” How does this help us with our doubts?

(13)      Sometimes surprise circumstances throw us off our faith, e.g., we lose our job and, as a result, our home, our spouse deserts us, sudden and severe illness strikes, and we question God. However, nothing in Peter’s circumstances changed between the time he got out of the boat and the time he lost faith and sank. What, then, caused him to lose faith?

(14)      For Peter, the faith he had to get out of the boat was not sufficient for a more extended walk on the stormy water. What can we learn about faith from this?

(15)      Some people find they have faith to receive divine healing, but they need further faith to keep their healing as the enemy comes along and begins to attack them with doubts, seeking to rob them. What does this tell us about faith?

(16)      How appropriate is it to cry out in panic, fear, alarm, worry, etc. to Jesus, simply calling out the need and asking for help, as Peter did?

Will of God

(17)      Walking on the water was not Jesus’ decision. It was Peter’s. However, Peter asked permission and Jesus gave it. How does this fit with your idea of knowing and following the will of God?

(18)      Peter was not always known for thinking things through before he jumped into a situation with both feet. He was an excellent volunteer, but he couldn’t always stick out the job to the end. Some of us may know what that is like: getting excited over some job or ministry the Lord is calling us to, jumping in with both feet, then running out of steam/excitement/vision to see it through.
(a)        What is it that happened to Peter and happens to us in those situations?

(b)        How can we avoid that kind of failure in the future?

(c)        How does the following warning by Jesus to count the cost fit in with this kind of situation, if at all?
Luke 14:28-33
28 Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?
29  For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
30  saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
31  Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32  If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
33  In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

(19)      It may have been that Peter realized the danger, went ahead when Jesus said He could, but had second thoughts. Sometimes we may think something through and then jump in, but we have second thoughts sometime later. To what extent should we allow such second thoughts to invade our thinking?

(20)      How does the following comment of Jesus in Luke 9:62 apply: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

(21)      To what extend do our second thoughts come from the fact that, when we said “yes” to the Lord, we then began to imagine great and glorious things happening which never materialized, but instead we found ourselves facing things like problems, difficult or uncooperative people, tedious routine, etc.?

Person of Jesus

(22)      Talk about what it would be like to walk on stormy water.

(23)      Why do you think Jesus did not still the storm before He tried walking on the water?

(24)      Martin Lloyd-Jones in Spiritual Depression, at p. 150, says: “[I]t is a failure in some shape or form to realize what He [Jesus] is that accounts for all our troubles.”
(a)        How true was this in Peter’s case?

(b)        How true is this for us in our problems?

(25)      Peter may have got himself in trouble, but Jesus did not let him sink. What does that tell you about the kind of person Jesus is?

Personal Application

(26)      Following are some Scriptural truths in which we can rest our faith, along with their opposites or doubts. Read through the list and pick one where you tend more to the doubt side than the faith side. In your quiet time with the Lord, take the Scriptural truth, ask the Lord to speak to you about it, then spend time meditating and listening to Jesus.

(27)      At the next meeting, share about the extent to which Jesus set you free from your doubt.
 

(28)      What does this say about the value of making meditation and listening a regular part of your life?

(29)      Life may be thought of as walking on stormy water. It has its ups and downs. Sometimes circumstances crash in on us like huge breakers. Life is unpredictable and can swamp you in a moment without you seeing what’s coming. Jesus’ way of describing that is: “In this world, you will have trouble” (John 16:33) Then He said (John 16:33): “But take heart! I have overcome the world.” What is the message here for us?