Am reading a book and at one point a girl is attacked and severely hurt, but her attackers get away. The setting is quite primitive by today’s standards and well before the days of technology. She recovers from her injuries but her family keeps a close eye on her because they are worried that her assailants will return. One day she says, “you all want me to feel safe, but you want me to live like I am in danger.”
We do that to ourselves all the time. We say that we trust in God, but we live like people who fear. We say that God will provide all our needs but we don’t live like we believe it. We ask Him to protect our loved ones when they travel, but we worry until they let us know that they are safe. We say that we trust him for our health but we don’t live like we believe he will.
We are like Peter when Jesus walked on water. Matthew 14:25-31 “And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is i. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he heard the wind he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?””
Sometimes we’re walking on water too, and we feel like we’re invincible because we are so sure everything is going to work out. We know that god is with us and has our backs. But then we see the wind and we are afraid. We are afraid that the sickness that is in remission will return. We are afraid that the finances we are depending on aren’t won’t come through. We are afraid that the relationship we worked so hard on will fall apart. That’s what happens when we take our eyes off Jesus and we see the wind. Fear can be so crippling and so loud that we can’t hear anything over its ferocity. It takes over our whole being until we are convinces we are sinking beneath the waves. All Peter said when fear overtook him was, “Lord, save me!” that’s all we need to say in order for Jesus to reach out his hand and take hold of us. Verse 31 says that Jesus immediately reached out his hand. He didn’t wait until Peter was drowning, he immediately saved him. He didn’t wait until he had built up his faith and fasted and prayed. Jesus immediately reached out His hand to Peter and saved him.
Do we sometimes live as if Jesus isn’t going to stretch out His hand to us? Do we live downtrodden and depressed lives because we hear the wind and allow it to drown out our faith? Do we know we ought to be walking on water but live as if we are sinking beneath the waves? We forget that we should look up and say, “Help me Lord,” and then Jesus’ hand is going to be there immediately to lift us out of the storm.
John 10:28 – 29 – “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s Hand.” We need to remind ourselves about verses like these when we see and hear the wind. We need to remind ourselves of the times God was faithful when he wind threatens to overwhelm us.
When we step out of the boat onto the water we need to live like overcomers who know that Jesus is right there on the water with us and that He is ready to stretch out His hand at all times. Because He loves us!
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