Walking on Water

I was amazed to read, in Matthew 14, about Christ’s rebuke of Peter. As the disciples cross the Sea of Galilee, a great storm comes up, and they fear they are going to drown. Earlier, in Matthew 8, a similar storm had threatened their lives, and Jesus had calmed the storm with a word. But now, Jesus is not with them because he stayed on the shore to pray. So here they are, in a small boat, on the stormy sea, alone. They are struggling for their very lives. A careful reading of the text indicates they had been struggling with the wind and the waves for about six hours. That’s a long time to be in the middle of the storm.

But when Jesus is done praying, he gets up and walks on the water to them. And when the disciples see him, some are afraid it is ghost. But some of them think it is Jesus, and Peter says, “Lord, if it is you, tell me come to you on the water.”

And Jesus says, “Come.”
So, Peter steps out of the boat, and walks across the water to Jesus. But after a few steps, Peter’s brain kicks into gear, and realizes that what he is doing is impossible. The wind is above him, the waves are all around him. The depths of the sea are below him. It is impossible to walk on water. His logic and his faith begin to war with one another, so he begins to sink. He cries out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” And of course, Jesus does. But as Jesus stretches out his hand to Peter, Jesus says to him, “Oh you of little faith. Why did you doubt?”

Peter? A man of little faith? He’s the one that got out of the boat! What about the other disciples still holding on to the boat for dear life? What about them? If Peter is a man of little faith, what are they? Men of no faith? They must have some faith. Maybe they are men of miniscule faith? Whatever kind of faith they had, I’m in the same boat. Literally. I don’t think I would have gotten out of that boat. So I must not have great faith. I must not even have little faith. Furthermore, if Peter’s faith, which got him to step out of a boat into a howling storm was little faith, then what in the world does great faith look like? We will talk about that in the next Focus.

For now, what can we learn from Peter in this story?

First, peace is not found in the absence of the storm but in the presence of Jesus.
When Jesus bid Peter to come to him he didn’t calm the storm. Rather, he invited Peter out into the storm, into the rough seas. The rebuke of Peter’s lack of faith was because he took his eyes off Jesus and instead focused on the storm. We think peace is found when the waves of life are calm. But Jesus never promised us smooth sailing. Instead he promised to always be with us. Peace is found in the presence of Jesus, even in the middle of a storm. Peter’s walk on the water teaches us that in the middle of storms we can have peace IF WE KEEP OUR EYES ON JESUS.

The storms of life give us good reason to be afraid. But Jesus is bigger than even the scariest of storms.

Second, faith requires stepping out of the boat.

We like comfort. We like safety. And that’s not at all a bad thing. But we often over inflate our desire for these things. Sometimes Jesus is going to ask you to take a risk and trust him. Sometimes, you have to step out of the boat.

Just like the apostle Peter, sometimes we will step out of the boat and then be overcome by fear. We will sink. But Jesus is right there to catch you. You might stumble, but you won’t drown. My guess, the next time Peter “stepped out of the boat” he did so more confidently. His faith and trust in Jesus was greater. The same will be true for you. The more steps of faith you take the easier it gets. Once you see God’s faithfulness it’s easy to trust him more and more. So, step out of the boat.

Third, without Jesus you will sink.

Peter’s walk on the water was short lived. It was short lived because he took his eyes off Jesus. Peter learned an important lesson that day that we shouldn’t ignore. When we take our eyes off Jesus the storms of life will quickly overcome us. As a chaplain I see this all the time. When Christians stop looking to Jesus they quickly sink. They get sucked into temptations. They get overwhelmed by life. They forget who’s in control. Life is full of storms. Big storms. Storms that will destroy. Unless you keep your eyes on Jesus. With Jesus you cannot only endure, you can walk on water above the storm. Keep your eyes on Jesus.

Fourth, when you follow Jesus he will do incredible things through you.

I’m convinced God wants to tell an incredible story through your life. He wants to do things in you and through you that you can’t even imagine. God has “walk on water” moments for you. God wants to tell a great story in your life. But often we settle for boring and safe stories. I bet Peter was talking about the time he walked on water for the rest of his life. It’s a great story! Why? Because he took a risk. He didn’t play it safe.
God wants the same for you. He wants to tell a great story in your life. Will you let him?

Chaplain Tom Love