Scripture: Matthew
14:28-31
NRS Matthew 14:28 Peter answered
him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."
29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat, started
walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he noticed
the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out,
"Lord, save me!" 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand
and caught him, saying to him, "You of little faith, why did you
doubt?"
Devotional: Jesus
sent the disciples across the lake in a boat. The storms raged and their
progress slowed. At three o-clock in the morning, afloat on the dwelling place
of demonic spirits and ghosts, the wet, wind-beaten, and cold disciples saw a
figure defying the laws of nature walking towards them on top of the water. Convinced
they were seeing a ghost, they were terrified. Hearing their cry, Jesus once
again tried to alieve their fear by identifying Himself. Peter, not completely sure
it was their Master, used his characteristic brashness to test the figure,
“Lord if it is you, command me to come to you.” Jesus called him, “Come.” Peter
recognized the voice and decided to step out of the boat. He was stepping out
to do something that he knew was impossible, but he was a disciple of the one
standing on the waves. It was any rabbi’s hope that their disciples could
become just like them. If Jesus could do it, then surely his disciple could do
it as well. So in faith, he stepped out of the boat onto the realm of ghosts
and demons. Faith in his Master. Faith that the disciple can do what the Master
does. Faith in his status as disciple. He stepped on the water in the same way
faith enables us to step into areas of hopeless darkness. The world shouts that
people cannot walk on water and that there is no hope for the hopeless, but
faith begs to differ. He stepped and for a moment he did what Jesus was doing.
His feet stood on solid water. Faith makes the impossible possible, but the
things of this world are the enemies of faith. When Peter saw the wind and
waves, fear made him doubt that the disciple could follow the Master. He began
to sink. Notice, he didn’t immediately plunge beneath the waves. He sunk slowly
enough for Jesus to take his hand and catch him. Acting in faith means we will,
at times, find ourselves scared and sinking; in fact, if we aren’t occasionally
scared, we aren’t stretching the limits of our faith. Peter’s faith was
stretched beyond his limits and Jesus caught him. When we respond to Jesus’
call and stretch the limits of our faith, He will catch us as well. We may sink
a little, but He will never let us drown! Peter teaches us that while having
faith may still lead to fear, it should always give us the boldness to step out
of the boat.
Prayer: God of
wind, waves and water. God who calls us to step out of the comfort of what we
know and into Your future for our lives. We ask You to strengthen our faith in
a way that enables us to step out on the water into Your unknown. Please remove
our fear of failure and replace it with a confidence in Your mighty hand that
can raise us out of the overwhelming waves. In the name of the Father, of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit we pray, Amen.
Song of praise: Oceans by Hillsong United
Spiritual discipline
challenge: Submission means overcoming fear to respond to a call of
God. Today step in faith towards something to which God has called you.
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