Learning DAILY

 

Matthew 14:28-31, And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”  So He said, “Come.”  And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”  And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

 

Peter, Peter, Peter!  Jesus called you “the Rock upon which He would build His Church”.   But here you go doing something that show Believers are all good in what they say until real difficulties come around.  When something really frightening comes their way, they just wimp out.  Really!?  Perhaps we need to look at this more closely.

 

Let’s go back a few verses to see what this was all about.  The disciples were crossing to the other side of the sea without Jesus.  A storm came up and the winds were strong enough to toss the waves around so that the boat was having difficulty going forward.  This problem was compounded by seeing someone walking towards them on the surface of the water.  They thought they were seeing a ghost. (Mark’s gospel includes that they did not understand because their hearts were hardened.  They still failed to apply the power of Jesus to the situation they were in.  Keep this in mind as we go on.)  The disciples were afraid.

 

Did Peter act foolishly in doing what he did?  He did tell Jesus to command him to go to Him.  When Jesus did, Peter was willing to do so and got out of the boat and began to walk to Jesus.  He left the security of the boat and decided to rely totally on Jesus.  But, the wind caught Peter’s attention.  Here is the problem all Believers face.  David Jeremiah states, “Whenever Believers divert their eyes from Jesus in the midst of a storm, their circumstances assume prominence, and they like Peter, lose heart and begin to sink.  The difference between fear and faith is focus.”

 

In this life there are many things to fear.  We are certainly living in perilous times (See 2 Timothy 3:1-7). Jesus wants us to look to Him, focus on Him and not be afraid.  There are many verses of Scripture that encourage Christians to “not be afraid”.  His encouragement to us is based on His limitless power and personal love for all who have given their life to Him.  There will be storms and circumstances of life that we must deal with.  When we must face them, do so by focusing on the fact that Jesus is with us to either pull us up out of the water or be with us through it.

 

So, did Peter fail that day?  I do not think so.  The other disciples stayed in the boat.  Fear does can paralyze us and cause us to be unwilling to get out of the boat, to play it safe.  Peter experienced the joy of walking on the water and the hand of Jesus reaching out to him in his time of need.  It can be tempting to look down on Peter, and remember he had small faith.  But, at least he got out of the boat!

 

 

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