Verses:
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 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 in fear. But 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.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they came into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
Mt. 14:22-33, NKJV
In the verses, we see Jesus, through a miracle coming to the rescue of His disciples, who were faced with a perilous situation.
Note that Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and ‘go before Him’ on the other side. Further reading reveals that Jesus went up to the mountain to pray. When you think of it, Jesus in His foreknowledge would have known that the waters would be troubled as the disciples went out to sea. So why did He let them go without Him?
We could picture a parent trying to teach his child how to ride a bicycle. It’s common knowledge that in the initial stages, the parent would hold the cycle as the child tries to push the pedals. But at one point, the parent should let go, without which the child would never learn to balance. He/she would obviously rush to the child’s rescue if he/she loses balance. So can we say that the parent has ‘abandoned’ the child?
As believers in Christ, we may have encountered situations where God ‘let’s go’ for a certain time, which can prove to be a period of prolonged difficulty or distress. But is this God ‘abandoning’ us? Or is it God stretching our faith so we can balance the destabilizing forces of doubt?
Further, Peter wanted to verify the identity of this ghostly figure claiming to be Jesus. I find it hard to determine exactly what was going on his mind, but I think he wanted to see a miracle. The miracle began the moment he left the boat. But when the wind got ‘boisterous’ Peter’s newfound ability to walk on water suddenly seemed to lose effect. Jesus quickly came to his rescue, just when he was losing ‘balance’.
Life can sometimes be like a tight rope walk in a storm. But by faith in the saving grace of the Lord and an awareness of His constant presence, we have all the stability we need.
‘Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
Which cannot be moved, but abides forever’ (Psalms 125:1, NKJV)
THOUGHT: Can we leave our comfort zone and take steps of faith, even if that involves considerable risk?