Walking on Water

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14: 25-33

I love, LOVE the passage of Jesus walking on water. It is the record of one of those moments in the history of the Christ on this earth in which we can see the immensity of His infinite power…and how that power pours down on us. It is the testimony of how we, too, can walk on water as well. It is the story of how even little ole me, just like that little ole fisherman named Peter, empowered by the Caller, could also be able to follow Him without any barriers, in a limitless way, wherever He calls me...even if it is out of the boat onto the water, in the middle of a wind storm.

Jesus said to Peter just one word: “come.” Peter obeyed. Peter walked on water.

It is the power of the Word!

What happened next, however, shows us how we self-impose limits as to what the Almighty can do in us. Our minds build barriers. Our minds create borders. Our minds allow distractions to cause us to lose focus. Our minds make us lend ear to the lies of the enemy. The result is, we often take our eyes off of Him, the source of our strength and power and inevitably we begin to sink.

We forget what His power just got us through. In an instant of panic we forget what He had just done for us. In a moment of fear we forget how He has never abandoned us before and how He will never abandon us now nor ever.

The good news is that even in those moments in which we allow fear, and panic, and anxiety to make us forget…He never forgets. Our shakiness doesn’t move Him because He is the Solid Rock upon which we stand…and the fact that we shake doesn’t make any difference…He holds us and we won’t fall. The wind won’t knock us over. The pit will not engulf us. The waters will not swallow us. Like with Peter, immediately, we haven’t even finished our cry for help, when His hand is already stretching out to grab us and pull us up to safety. And on that promise I trust!

In my moments of doubt, when I allow my eyes to wander off of His face into the raging winds, I will call upon this passage and know that I must not be afraid because it is Him in the storm. When I feel like I’m beginning to sink because I allowed fear to creep in, I will call on Him and I will call on this passage, and I will count on His Hand to be already grabbing me out of my trouble even before I finish my sentence.

And when the winds of the storms of my life die down, I will proclaim the power of His Word, for He is truly Our God, and I will recall how by His power, He made me walk on water too.