Walking on Water
So I was pondering this story again. We all know it.
Peter gets out of the boat in faith because he sees Jesus walking on water. He doubts and then he sinks. And then Jesus saves him.
Ref Matthew 14:17-34
And Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea...And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come... But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
So this story is most often used to imply that you should step out in faith like Peter so we can walk on water. Don't stay in the boat. But I am actually going to focus on the other part. When Peter sinks.
I think the most important part in this story is that when Peter begins to sink, he calls out to Jesus for help. Stepping out in faith is all good, but if Peter is going to sink, I think I am going to sink too.
Application? So in ministry, we try to step out in faith. But we will sink. When we step out in faith and things go wrong, we say it was not God's will. But could it really be that our doubts and fears make us sink? Maybe it is in God's will, but we just need to call out to Jesus, "Save me!" for things to work out. I think the most important thing learned from this story is how to react when things go wrong.
You can follow Peter and step out in faith all the time, but without Jesus you will sink. Would it have not been even easier if instead Peter had called out to Jesus and said, "Can you come over here and help me to walk on the water too?" Peter tries to do it on his own and he can't... and neither can we!