The Wilderness and the Borderlands: 3rd Week of Lent

Students

Mar 9

03-09-2015

By Rev. Julian Anthony Bond

“Come.” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Matthew 14:29

One day early in November 2014 Nik Wallenda, a seventh generation aerialist, walked out in the Chicago air between two skyscraper 600 feet above downtown. Some witnessed the first of two walks while looking up at him from below. The first walk lasted seven seconds and the second walk in 80 seconds. The wind was blowing 30mph and in an interview with CNN Wallenda says “You guys think I’m crazy but this is what I was made for…God is in control.” To balance his walk across the buildings and nickel width wire line Nik Wallenda held a bar. His tightrope walk was a success!

In my single days I use to frequent a local bar. It served as a social gathering and I met a lot of interesting people and heard the stories of life from common folk. The more one drank an alcoholic beverage, the more courage one had to speak about the things that they were going through. It was my Thursday spot! However when I stopped drinking, I also stopped hanging out at this bar. It was time to move on. Seven years later I found myself back at this bar on Mondays nights for several weeks because they were open. Life had changed….I was now married, with a child, a student in seminary, a minister at my local church, an entrepreneur, and could not find a library that would stay open long enough for me to finish writing my seminary papers and study theology, read up on Pentecostalism and complete the invoices that I billed my customers. It was a tough balance but I found my groove at the bar. Study material and the Bible on the bar! The same seat in which I used to drink a brew; now I was delivered from alcoholism. I was drinking coffee and inspiring my bartender who use to pour me drinks, and others just looking on watching me study. God reversed the pouring situation and now He was pouring hope into her life as she watched me dedicate myself to God’s glory.

Like Nik Wallenda ‘God is in control’ and my journey is living proof. This is what I received as I matriculated through my seminary training. And when I look at Peter, a bi-vocational minister who had the gift of leadership (Acts 15), knew the highs and lows of entrepreneurship as a fisherman (John 21:3) and was a married man (Mark 1:30), I can only imagine the thoughts and direction he sought out and how he balanced life with the gifts he was blessed to have. But Peter’s work is proof that we must exercise our faith in God. Through God, Peter gained focus even though he was timid and sometimes presumptuous. Matthew writes that Peter was at times self-seeking and I would argue he had bar room assertiveness. But God…transformed him and allowed him to cast his cares on His son Jesus and walk out on water! His ministry was diverse and he served as a bridge to hold up the early church in Palestine.

Nik Wallenda walked out on the wire blindfolded for one of his walks. I wonder how far Simon Peter could have have walked if he would have kept his eyes on Jesus. The Lord is our balance and no other bar can provide what balance God has for our life. When I find God…I’ve found balance in His word.

Rev. Julian Anthony Bond graduated from McCormick Theological seminary in 2011. He is married, a father, and enjoys nine holes of golf