“Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘tell me to come to you on the water.’ ‘Come,’ he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’ And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” (Matthew 14:22-33)
Peter is a character of amazing complexity and paradox:
There is boldness in him to ask Jesus to tell him to come to Him on the water.
There is faith and courage in him to step out of the boat onto the water.
And then there is fear in him when, while walking on water, he sees the storm.
Finally, he demonstrates a great sense of clarity in the midst of crisis when he calls out to Jesus as he sinks in the water. He does know where to turn for help!
Peter’s example isn’t always one that we should be encouraged to follow, but here I’d say he is.
Learn from Peter to be bold in your requests to the Lord. Perhaps you’ll never need to ask Jesus to help you walk on water, but whatever requests you would like to make of Him, go ahead. Be bold. Ask what is on your heart. In fact, Paul instructed us to “Present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6)
Learn from Peter to be full of faith and courageous in following God’s direction. No matter what He asks of you, be willing to take the step out of your comfort zone and into the place where He leads you.
Learn from Peter to look to the Lord in your times of fear. There is no better place look when you are afraid than right at Jesus!
His, by Grace,
Steve
No comments:
Post a Comment