It’s raining again today.
With all the rain we’ve had lately I am reminded of Peter. You know, Peter asked the Lord to allow him to do a pretty remarkable thing: He asked Jesus to permit him to walk on water.
And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a spirit;” and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”
And Peter answered him and said, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” And He said, “Come.” And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 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? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.”
(Matthew 14:25-32)
Now, try to wrap your head around just how brazen a request this is by the Lord’s disciple. Jesus is walking on water as effortlessly as you might walk on the sidewalk. But of course, He’s Jesus: He can do anything. Peter’s thought process doesn’t end there, however. Peter thinks: “But of course, this is Jesus: He can give me the power to do anything!” so He asks the Lord for the power.
And Jesus gives it.
You know what happens next: Peter begins to care too much about the storm raging around him, he takes his eyes off the Lord and…well, what happens next I don’t think we’ve stopped to appreciate. Mark writes that Peter “began to sink.”
Have you ever thrown a stone into a pond? It doesn’t “begin” to sink…it just sinks! Peter, however slowly began to submerge. From ankles to knee, from waist to breast, water began to overtake him. Finally he cried for help and the Lord stretched out His saving hand to his suddenly-faithless disciple.
The Lord permitted Peter to do an amazing thing. And when Peter took his eyes off the Lord who gave him such ability, he began to sink away from Jesus. As followers of Christ, let’s remember that the storms of life will always rage. There will always be an excuse or a reason to take our eyes off the Lord. Learn from Peter’s example; don’t sink: Keep your eyes on Jesus and you’ll stand through the storm till the end.
~ Matthew