By Gina Caswell Kelly
In Matthew 14, there is a great story of a miracle. Jesus had been preaching. When He dismissed the crowd, He told the disciples to get into the boat and go on ahead of Him. He needed time alone to pray and talk with His Father. The scripture states that later that night, He was alone, and the boat was already a good distance away. There is nothing in the scriptures that tell us if the disciples were curious about how Jesus would meet up with them again, or what they were to do. What we do know is that a storm blew up and the winds were fierce on the sea.
Then, the scripture says, “Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw this figure walking toward them on the water, they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them, “Don’t be afraid. It is I. Have courage.” Now that was plenty. I mean here is this man absolutely walking on top of the water, and not just a still glassy pool of water, but a stormy sea that was wreaking havoc on the disciples boat, and their nerves!
That was plenty, for sure. But, good old Peter said to Jesus, “Lord if it is You, then tell me to come to You on the water.” And Jesus replied to Peter, “Come.” Such a simple word. Just “come.” What was going on with Peter? Did he really doubt that it was Jesus? Who else could have done such a thing? Or did he just want the chance to try out walking on water? Or was it deeper than that? Did he want to see just how powerful his faith in Jesus was? The disciples had no idea what power was theirs as servants of the Savior. Neither do we.
The story goes on and Peter steps out of the boat onto the water and started walking toward Jesus on the waters. Keep in mind that Jesus had not yet calmed the storm. Then, Peter took his eyes off Jesus and began to assess the storm around him and became afraid. When this happened, Peter began to sink. But Jesus immediately grabbed him by the hand and pulled him up. Jesus said to Peter, “Oh you of little faith. Why did you doubt?”
Do you know why Peter doubted? He took his eyes off Jesus. The storm was raging around him when Jesus told him to get out on the water. Jesus knew the seas were rough, but he allowed Peter to test his faith on those rough seas.
In our lives, we have lots and lots of rough seas. Seas that threaten to overwhelm us. Seas that we have no desire to step into. But Jesus says, “Come.” The same strength He offered to Peter in the midst of that storm is ours today. Whatever you are facing today, Jesus says, “Come.” Keep your eyes on Him in every storm of life. He will guide you through when you keep your eyes on Him. It makes a difference.
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