Good Monday Morning Precious Friends,
As we embrace the gift of this day and our Lord who gave it to us I pray no matter what we are walking through, we place our trust in the Lord. I am obviously very fond of the scripture that comes from our post today. May there be power in our circumstance no matter how deep the water seems... We can trust the one who pulls us out. We have access to every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.
To me, one of the most amazing stories in all of Scripture is Peter walking on the water. How could anyone possibly do something like this? Everyone knows that water will not sustain the weight of a human body. To make this even more amazing, it occurred during a raging storm in the dead of night.
Matthew 14:22 -29: Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
Can we imagine what it must have been like the moment Peter first put his legs over the side of the boat and felt the cold water beneath his feet? Can we imagine how he must have felt as he began to put his full weight on his feet? Think about the uncertainty of the moment. Imagine all the thoughts that must have rushed through his head. Would the water hold him up? Was it Jesus who told him to do this or just his imagination? Could he actually walk on water?
Why did Peter take this great step of faith? No doubt part of it had to do with the fact that he had been watching Jesus perform many miracles. As he observed the impossible happening over and over again, his faith must have been stirred. In addition, he and the other disciples were seeing the figure of a man walking on the water and they heard a familiar voice that said, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” Then, when Peter asked for permission to walk on the water also, he heard Jesus say, “Come.” Not, “You’re crazy. You can’t do this.” But “Come.”
Throughout life, there will be many times when you and I will have to step into the unknown. It may be a job change, a child issue, a life change, a health change, waiting in a doctor’s office to receive the results of a test, whatever it may be... we all face moments of uncertainty. During these moments we have to decide whether or not we will trust God to be with us and to help us. For some, trusting in an unseen God is as ridiculous as trying to walk on the water. But for others, we hear a gentle voice inside of us that says, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” When moments like these come, they are opportunities for us to experience what it is like to walk on the water.
Most of us know the rest of the story. He got out of the boat, started walking on the water, got scared, and began to sink. And he also received a rebuke from Jesus: ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:31 AMP).
But think about it—Jesus didn’t say those words to the other disciples. He directed the words “you of little faith” to Peter. The implication is the others had no faith at that moment.
Think of these words not just as words of rebuke, but also as words of encouragement to Peter, the one who had enough faith to step out of the boat and begin walking on the water.
But when he saw [the effects of] the wind, he was frightened, and he began to sink, and he cried out, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:30 AMP).
What if we saw this as Jesus’ great encouragement, not just to Peter, but also to us? What if we looked at this event as Jesus saying to us, “You started so well. You believed Me, and got out of the boat. You did it! You walked on water just as I did. But then you allowed doubt to enter, and when that happened, you began to sink.”
This powerful story is a wonderful reminder that Jesus is always with us, and He will suspend natural laws to reach out to us and care for us. Our part is to trust in Him.
Lord Jesus, please forgive my lack of faith. Increase my faith in Your Word, and help me to trust You enough to follow Your leading. When the circumstances around me threaten to pull me into deep waters of doubt, help me to focus on You. I ask these things in Your holy name. Amen.
I pray we can trust in the Lord as we face all the uncertainties in our lives and walk forward when He says Come, knowing He is always with us, He loves us so much and He will hold us up!
