A God Who Never Lets Us Down Romans 10:5-17; Job 38:4–18; Matt. 14:22–33 

Grace, mercy, and peace be with you, from God our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ, who never fails us.

Today we’re going to talk about how God never lets us down.

Have you ever been let down by someone, someone close to you? Someone you trusted and depended on? How did that feel? Not very fun.

Have you ever let another person down? Someone close to you? How do you think that felt to that person who trusted you? How did it make you feel to know you let someone down who loved you? Pretty bad.

You’ve let others down; have you ever let yourself down? Have you ever let your God down? I know I have.

As fallen people living in a fallen world, we sometimes let others down, and sometimes others let us down; sometimes we let ourselves down, and sometimes we let our God down. 

But the good news is we have a God who never lets us down, who never lets others down, who never lets the world down, and never lets Himself down.

He’s perfect and infallible, does not fail, does not make mistakes.

He’s holy and loving, He doesn’t sin, and He never fails to love His children. He’s faithful, keeping all His promises; and He’s powerful to carry them out on our behalf. 

What all this means is we have a God who never lets us down. Our Epistle says, all who believe in Him will never be put to shame. He won’t let anyone down.

Because God never lets us down, we can say that faith never lets us down, faith in Christ, faith inspired by the Gospel, confessed in word and deed, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. You can never go wrong believing Christ and His Word for you. 

Our Epistle says, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will 

be saved. 

10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 

In this life we can believe in things that will let us down, let us down now and let us down eternally, vain and worldly things that will only lead to eternal shame and guilt and regret. 

But not the Gospel. Never will God’s grace lead to your shame.

But there are a lot of things in this life that will, plenty of things that will mislead you, and deceive you, and put you on a slippery slope where you don’t know what to believe and who to trust. 

Believing the truths that are taught in God’s Word gives you a firm foundation, a sure footing for life. 

As we just sang, How firm a foundation, O saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!

What an excellent Word God has for you. Every word inspired by His love for you; every verse, every doctrine, every teaching entirely true. 

This means you can read it with trust; not guarded, but with an open heart and mind, letting it fill you with God’s wisdom and comfort and power.

Jesus showed that comfort and power to Peter and the disciples in our Gospel today, and to us. 

Peter grew up along the shores of Lake Galilee, and he fished there for a living. He was familiar with the water, and water’s power, the fury of the storms, and wind  that Lake Galilee was famous for.

He and the other disciples found themselves in one of those wind storms one night. As it happened, Jesus wasn’t with them at the time.

And probably by His design; He knew a storm was coming. And though he was a ways away, He knew that he’d be there for them.

He came walking to them on the sea, our lesson says. At first they thought they were seeing a ghost or an evil spirit. But Jesus spoke these excellent words to them: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”  “It’s okay; it’s me.”.  

What excellent words to live by: Take heart; it’s me, you know me: trust me, your God and Savior. There’s nothing to be afraid of, I’m here to help you, to watch over you, to keep your soul from harm. 

What excellent promises God gives us, and keeps!

Whatever the squall, whatever the storm is in your life, or in your world, Jesus is here for you, with all His love and power to protect you.

Peter decided to test His master. “If it’s really you, tell me to walk on the water like you’re doing.”. 

Peter thought he was testing Jesus, but he was really testing himself. 

Jesus told Peter, “Come on.”. So Peter did. But pretty soon he started thinking, “What am I doing?”. For a moment, the wind and the waves overcame his faith, and he started to sink.

For a moment, the wind the waves of life, can overcome us, and cause us to doubt.

But Jesus was there for Peter. He lifted him up, and put him back on the water and in the boat.

Jesus is here for us, to lift us back up, and put us in the boat with him, so to speak, in His fellowship. Peter let Jesus down, but Jesus picked Peter up. 

Sometimes we let our Lord down; we sin, we doubt, we deceive, we lust, we covet, we complain, we wander, we test him, and in doing so, we fail Him, and others, and ourselves.

But God bends down to us, calling us to repent, promising to forgive, inviting us to trust Him, and lifting back us up to walk with Him on the water, that is, to walk and live by faith, because faith in Him will never let us down.

In our Old Testament, God confronted Job, who was blaming God for his problems. 

We’ve been known to do this, too; blaming God, and others, and failing to take responsibility for our failings. 

God reminded Job who’s God, that God is God, and Job is not. God was not to blame for Job’s troubles, Job’s sin and the fallen world was to blame. 

God is not to blame for our troubles; our problems come from being fallen people, surrounded by fallen people, living in a fallen world.

God isn’t the problem; He’s the answer. He doesn’t fail, He prevails. He doesn’t ruin, He restores. He doesn’t disappoint, He fulfills and amazes!

How blessed we are to have a God who never lets us down. With His blessing, let us try all the more, to not let others down, and not let Him down. 

We’re not perfect; we will let others down at times, and we’ll let our God down. But He never fails to forgive; He lifts us back up, and His Spirit empowers us to be more faithful; and His excellent Word inspires and instructs us to be more loving and true.

Finally, because we have a God who is always with us and never lets us down, we always have His peace, which passes understanding, to guard our hearts and  minds, in Christ Jesus, our faithful Lord. Amen.