A story that God has continued to remind me of lately is the story of Jesus and Peter walking on water. This is a story I heard a lot growing up in Sunday school. I never saw the true power in it until being on the WorldRace and I just wanted to simply share the things that I’ve observed from several passages of this story within the gospels.
Here are the passages if you would like to read them or follow along.
Matthew 14:22-33
Mark 6:45-52
John 6:16-21
First thing I see, Jesus doesn’t just flat out call Peter to jump out of the boat. Peter asks him to call him out.
He’s your typical Christian, who wants to become a better person and grow in his faith, so he does the Christian thing to do and asks Jesus to grow him by calling him out of his comfort zone. However, he doesn’t understand all that this means or entails, much like us when we present this request.
But Jesus is faithful and loves us, just like he loved Peter. This is why he responded to him and called him into the water. Jesus has given him all he needs to be able to be obedient and He knows he will stand beside him no matter what happens.
So Jesus calls Peter out into the water — Not just into the water but into the darkness, into the unknown. He calls him into the rough waters, into the middle of the whirling wind and storm. This is just like the valleys of life that we often times experience.
But it is the storm of life that produces the most fruit. In James 1:2-4 it says “Count it all joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
How powerful are these verses. The testing of our faith produces steadfastness. Another word could be devotion or faith. The rough seasons of life only grow our faith and devotion to God. If we allow faith to do all that it is meant to, it will draw us towards completion and perfection. Those are some big and powerful words.
So these hard things I walk through could ultimately lead me to completion in Christ if only I embrace them with joy and see them for what they are.
Peter, although he didn’t know how scary the request he made was, he still was really bold in asking Jesus to call him out of the boat.
We should be bold in how we ask the Lord to grow us as well. Be aware that this can look scary sometimes. Nevertheless stand unafraid as you walk into them because we have a good Father who walks along side of us, to help us and uphold us. (Psalm 54:4 “Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.”)
Another thing I observed is that It’s in the chaos of the storm that Peter encounters Jesus. It’s there he gets to feel Jesus’ hand as he begins to sink. It’s there he hears Jesus’ voice and it’s there that he is taught what faith really is. I get chills thinking about this moment. So many marvelous things can be revealed and experienced through the darkness. If it wasn’t for darkness we wouldn’t have the hope of the stars or the moon and we wouldn’t have the beauty of the light.
The storm is so wild and consuming that it becomes distracting to Peter. He begins to shift his focus to the wind and waves instead of the one who is sustaining him in the chaos of it all. And it’s here that He begins to sink.
These stormy seasons of life are always full of so much distraction and it’s easy to lose focus but when we allow ourselves to do that we miss out on the beauty of the fathers face that we could be fixated on. And we enter a scarier level of the storm.
But even then Jesus is right there and he reaches out immediately and, meets him where he’s at, meets him in his doubt. But He doesn’t pull him up until he calls on him. The Lord wants us to want him. He’s a jealous God,but also a good father who gives His children space to grow. He wants us to realize in our struggling that it’s Him that we need above all else. He wants to hear our voice cry out to Him.
Then He pulls Peter up and asks him why he would doubt him. Almost reminding him of why he shouldn’t have doubted in the first place and at the same time questioning his heart behind his doubt.
God wants us to be aware, both of ourselves and our inner thoughts/emotions/reactions and aware of who he is and what he promises.
We do this by surrounding ourselves in honest authentic community and by taking time for ourselves to ask the Lord what He has to say about us, our character, and our actions. We also do this by taking time to work through the past and work through struggles and emotions by grieving them in order to have no distractions for the present.
After Peter stepped out and learned what Jesus wanted him to learn, they got back into the boat and the storm ceased.
The dark seasons don’t last forever. The Lord will eventually call the storm to a stand still and allow us back into the boat. So rest in the fact that He is in complete authority of the storm and there is an end to it. He has purpose for it. He is proud of you for asking for growth and for seeking Him through it.
“Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.” 2 Corinthians 3:12
The last thing I observed is that at the end of the story the disciples invited Jesus into the boat with them and then were immediately where they were trying to go.
During the rough times in life, which are inevitable whether we have asked God to grow us or not, we are usually seeking joy within that and struggling to be happy. But it is when we invite the Lord in that we immediately arrive to our destination of joy, peace, etc.
Jesus will meet you where you’re at and it’s there that he has so much to show you.
Hope that this was as much of an encouragement to you as it was to me.
Thanks for reading!!
Much love,
Kenni Grace
