"But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"(Matthew 14:30-31)
This passage of Scripture is one my personal favorites. It is abounding with pertinent, timely lessons for each of us. Life is replete with challenges and difficult moments, some that even threaten the very breath in our lungs. How we choose to face those challenges – whether with faith and no fear or with doubt and fear – determines if we will emerge victorious or defeated.
The first thing I note in this passage from Matthew 14 is that before Jesus walked on the water, He spent time alone in prayer. This illustrates that before we begin to achieve or attempt something great or miraculous, that we need to be spending time in prayer, alone with our Father. Nothing else will equip or empower us to face the challenges of today or tomorrow.
The next remarkable observation that I perceive in this passage is that Jesus’ own disciples did not recognize Him. They thought He was a ghost walking on the water. Distractions of this world will quickly take our focus off of our Heavenly Father and will prevent us from recognizing the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. How many times have we observed a powerful God-breathed moment in someone’s life and he does not even recognize it was God at work? It was no different for the disciples, they did not recognize their Savior and Leader working and walking in their lives.
Their obvious fear of the apparent “ghost” and the stormy seas was recognized and reprimanded by their Savior. When I read passages of Scripture, where Christ Himself speaks, I LISTEN. You have heard the dated saying, “Straight out of the horse’s mouth?” Well, passages such as this are straight out of the Savior’s mouth. Fear has no place in the life of the Christian. Fear blocks faith. Fear interferes and intercepts our humble efforts to pray faith-filled prayers. I am reassured by the events of this passage. I will be forgiven when I stumble and allow fear to taint my thoughts and words. After all, these were the Lord’s Chosen Disciples and they stumbled and feared.
When Peter was full of faith, seeking to imitate His Master, he pursued Him on the waging waves when commanded. He walked miraculously on the rolling waves. His eyes were on Christ. He was an imitator of Christ. The stormy waters about Him mattered little, as he was focused, faith-filled and determined.
However, the very moment that Peter “saw that the wind was boisterous”, he was “afraid”. Peter made several spiritual miss-steps. He allowed his eyes to focus on the natural versus the spiritual. He allowed fear to enter into his heart and mind. And the result was Peter began to fail at his miraculous accomplishment of walking on water.
Again, a vital lesson emerges. Just as Peter began to drown in the tempest seas, he cried out to the One Who could save him. Jesus, Our Savior, able to save the physical body and the spiritual soul did not leave or forsake Peter, despite his failings as a man. “Immediately” Jesus rescued Peter.
Christ then questioned Peter about his lack of faith and doubt. Are we any different? Are our life circumstances unlike this scene on the stormy seas? No. Jesus is looking down at our lives. He sees our mistakes and misgivings. He knows when we fear and when we doubt. And from His Heavenly home, He muses, “Why does my child keep doubting and fearing?” He is well aware of what our answers would be to that rhetorical question. It is imperative for each of us to take the time each day to purge our lives of doubt and fear. Just as with Peter, when we confess fear and doubt, God will forgive and in turn, we will be able to achieve the impossible with our humble, human lives.
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