scripture
Matthew 14:22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It's a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid.”28 “Lord, if it's you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
observation
It’s a scary situation to be out on a large lake with a storm tossing your boat around, but then to see something happen that nobody has ever seen done before, wow!
The disciples are already freaked out by the storm and then they see a person walking across the surface of the lake coming toward them, I bet that it wasn’t too comforting to find out who it was, it would still be pretty wild.
Don’t fault Peter for having a lapse of faith, especially in this situation, because there is a boat load of guys that didn’t even take one step out.
application
When the way is stormy and your boat is being rocked don’t forget that God is right there with you waiting for you to trust him and step out and do something that you couldn’t have done without him.
What am I doing today that I could not do without God? Am I operating only on my own abilities?
prayer
Help me Lord to reply on you when the storms are rough. Help me to serve and work for you beyond what I could do on my own.
