Oh We Of Little Faith

Matthew 14:13-33

At the beginning of this passage, we find Jesus and His disciples going into a desert place after Jesus performed the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. After they had eaten, Jesus told His disciples to go into a ship to the other side of the sea. Jesus then went alone to a mountain to pray. That night a storm came and began to toss the ship in the midst of the waves. Jesus, when He had finished praying, came toward the ship walking on the water in the midst of the storm. Peter asks the Lord to call him out onto the water and to come to Him. This is a great lesson for all of us who claim to have faith in God. Just like Peter, we as Christians must have faith and ask God to help us do something great for Him and to give us the ability to follow Him. The thought of walking on water was probably a little scary for Peter, but he knew that he wanted to do as Jesus was doing.

As a result of Peter’s faith and desire to be with the Lord walking on the water, Jesus granted Peter’s request and called Peter out on the water. Peter, at this point, could have started to fear just because of the immanent danger that he was putting himself into, but instead of fearing, he obeyed the call of Christ and began to do the impossible. When God calls us to do something, no matter how impossible or unthinkable it may be, we can obey without fear or worry. It is important to remember that God spoke a command that Peter was to come to Him.

Peter takes his eyes off Christ, and starts to focus on the storm going on around him. The wind howling, the thunder roaring, the lightning flashing, the waves crashing around him, and most likely, the other men in the ship crying out for fear. Peter, only after he takes his eyes and mind off of Christ, begins to sink. It is easy for all of us who read this passage, or hear this story to begin to judge Peter. If we could have talked with him after the event maybe we would say, “Peter, you just shouldn’t have taken your eyes off of Christ!” or “Peter, Why did you doubt when Jesus was right there with you, and you had already begun to walk on the water’s surface?!” Oh, the hypocrisy that would be flowing from our hearts and minds as we made those statements! God does so many miracles in our lives. He allows us to do things that many think are impossible. After all of that, we worry about our next paycheck. We doubt and worry when a tough problem presents itself inside the church or home. We even begin to doubt when we are just unsure of what comes next. There is a reason why in 2 Corinthians 5:7, God’s Word tells us that we are to walk by faith and not by sight. Just like Peter. When we take our focus off of Christ and begin to focus on the circumstances, we are overwhelmed with fear because without Christ, we have no hope. Another thing to think about is 2 Timothy 2:7. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” God did not cause Peter to sink. The wind and the waves didn’t even make Peter sink. Peter sank ONLY because of PETER’S unbelief! We are so quick sometimes to blame our spiritual stumbling and falling on God or the circumstances around us. However, the only thing that can cause us to spiritually “sink” is our lack of faith. We do not see Peter fearing the storm until AFTER he takes his eyes off of Christ. We also must come to this realization that if we have our focus totally on Christ, there is no room for fear to come into focus. Peter and all other Christians should remember the fact that Christ gave a command for Peter to walk out to Him. When the God whose commands created an entire universe, commands something, it will happen. Peter did not have to fear because Christ gave a command. No wind, no wave, and no circumstance could have prevented Peter from obeying. Peter is often criticized for his unbelief, but we must not be too quick to judge. Peter was the only one with enough faith to actually ask God to do the impossible…what about the other eleven?

The last aspect of this story is that Peter, while sinking, called out for Christ to save him. Christ, in His infinite mercy and love was right there to reach out His hand and save Peter. No matter what we may do or how much wrong we have done, we can be sure that God is faithful. When we call out for His forgiveness and salvation, He always answers!

Related posts:

1. The Other Disciples [Cartoon]
2. The Fear Factor
3. Fearless by Max Lucado [Book Review]
4. Verse of the Week: Ephesians 1:3