Matthew 14:27-31 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
It was a dark and stormy night. Well, at the very least it was a dark and windy night. As a result of these brisk winds, the boat the disciples were in would have been rocking as the howling winds pushed wave after wave up against its sides. And try as they might, the disciples could make little headway toward their destination due to this contrary and powerful wind. Into the midst of this, after quite a few hours of frustration with some fear probably mixed in, Jesus comes to the disciples WALKING ON THE WATER! It's no wonder that the disciples thought they were seeing a ghost. No mere man can do what Jesus was doing!
As soon as Peter sees Jesus coming, he blurts out his desire to walk on the water, too. And so Jesus issues the simple command to him, "Come." Peter gets out of the boat and began his journey. He was doing fine until he notices just how uninviting the weather was ... a fierce wind which was undoubtedly whipping up the surface of the sea into piles of angry waves. He begins to sink. At that point, Jesus reaches out to keep him from going under. Once he has Peter firmly in hand, he gives Peter a rather stern rebuke. “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
There are a number of lessons here for us. Here are just two. Peter got himself into trouble when he got his eyes off of Jesus ... and onto the difficult circumstances he found himself in. Once that happened, he began to sink. This is why Jesus accused him rightly of doubting. If we desire to stay on the path God calls us to walk, we must keep our eyes focused on Jesus! Yet there is comfort here. Even when we doubt, we must remember that Jesus is always near ... in his grace and mercy to rescue us! Ultimately we will stand on the final day ... not because of our strength but HIS. Praise God for such a Savior!
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
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