“Come! ” He said. And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me! ”
Immediately Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt? ”
When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those in the boat worshiped Him and said, “Truly You are the Son of God! ” (Matthew 14:29-33)
Recently I heard great teaching from a great man (Dr. Bill Dogterom) whom I greatly admire. He told the story from Matthew’s Gospel and described in first person the account of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. Like you I have heard that story a thousand times before, but probably like you missed a key element of that story.
We talk about bold Peter saying to Jesus, “command me to come to You on the water”. (Matthew 14:28) We point out that Peter was the only disciple to actually get out of the boat etc. We know that at one point Peter was standing solidly on the sea, which for a fisherman must have freaked him out, but in a cool sort of way. The text doesn’t say how many steps Peter took, but it says he walked on the water towards Jesus. Yay Peter! So at this point, Peter’s faith in Jesus would appear to be rock solid. Next Peter begins to have that same sinking feeling we all have when our current reality is immersed in fear. The moment we see life’s “impossibles” those situations that all of the sudden appear and its weight starts to pull us down to the point we think we will drown.
Here is what I have missed all these years. When Jesus grabs a hold of a sinking Peter and says to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt? ” I have always perceived this as a disappointed rebuke from Jesus, but it would make more sense that Jesus was laughing when He says it. The same way a parent should respond when your child does something silly. Why do we lean towards believing that God is angry and disappointed in us instead of one who lovingly guides and redirects us? Peter never lost his faith in Jesus, he cried out to Him to save him. My “aha” moment was the fact that Jesus was referring to Peter’s faith from a grander perspective. Peter lost faith in himself, in the fact that Jesus had called him to be His disciple, called him to greatness, Jesus called Peter to follow Him which in that day being asked by a Rabbi to be an apprentice was the highest of affirmations. The person God calls He also equips.
My lack of faith isn’t usually because I have a limited theological belief in God, but a false reality belief that God doesn’t believe in me. When we forget who called us, who claims us as His own, who bids us to walk on water in the sense of attempting the impossible, we express little faith. When we forget to believe what is true about us, what God says about us, we like Peter, exercise little faith, doubting who we are and Whose we are.
Faith in this sense is both faith in God and in the truth that we have been filled with Him in every capacity without limit. Believing and living in a manner that reflects who God says we are, His beloved children, His masterpieces is what separates us the supernatural life experiences from the natural.
It time to get out of the “boat”, believe that Jesus has called us to come to Him, and watch what He does in and through us.
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