Peter begins to sink after literally walking on water. Why? For those who have read the story in Matthew 14, we see that Peter takes his eyes off of Christ and looks at the storm and allows fear to begin taking over. But if you take a contextual deep dive into the whole chapter, we get a glimpse at how life, circumstances, personalities and priorities can determine one’s actions/responses.
First, prior to this “sinking feeling” event, Jesus had just learned that his cousin John the Baptist was beheaded in an act of vengeance. And in the midst of ministering to the masses around the Sea of Galilee, He paused and left the masses to seek time alone, most likely to seek out His Father (as this had become a priority of Christ’s and a routine practice in his spiritual growth).
Although Christ sought this isolation time in a “deserted” place, the people followed. They were probably also most likely led by His disciples to where Jesus was. So, Christ was facing sadness, exhaustion and perhaps a slew of other emotions that might have been overwhelming. So, he sought a time of isolation to again regain focus.
Following this time of re-focus, Christ performed the miracle of feeding over five thousand. He then begins to dismiss the crowd while sending his disciples on the boat to go to “the other side” and wait for Him. Well, the storm hits.
In the midst of the high winds (against the boat), here comes Jesus walking on the water. Out of fear the disciples begin to freak out, thinking it’s a ghost. “They cried out in FEAR” it says in vs. 26. This shows just how quick and powerful the emotion of Fear is. It wasn’t but a few hours that Jesus had just performed a huge miracle (one of many to this point in the presence of his disciples), inspiring confidence and faith in his disciples. YET, fear crept in when their focus was not immediately on Christ. And here comes Jesus, just walking on the water. Here is another miracle happening in front of them. But they do not see it as a miracle because fear had already gripped them in the storm.
Christ identifies Himself and hits the nail on the head. He tells them, “Do not be afraid.” And even then Peter uses the phrase, “If it’s You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus responds, “Come.” For some reason, Peter needed to HEAR the voice of Jesus. But at least he jumped out and went ‘Holy Surfing.’
Yet almost immediately, Peter took his eyes off of Jesus (he stopped talking to Him I might add as well) and allowed the stormy circumstances of the moment to install fear once again. Now, Peter was only beginning to sink. He didn’t drop into the water up to his neck. It was almost like he could have regained his rightful position of walking on the water had he regained his focus and casted out all fear. But not even Peter could do this at that moment. So, he yelled out, “Save me” to Jesus who immediately reached out and took hold of him. Jesus commented first on the smallness of Peter’s faith and then asked, “Why did you doubt?” DOUBT? What does that have to do with fear? Evidently, EVERYTHING!
DOUBT has become the gateway for believers to allow fear to gain control, lose focus, and often just give up. Yet I believe that we also see the cure for this at the end of the chapter. After that “season/storm” had ended AND the disciples had witnessed and understood who Christ is even more, THEY WORSHIPED HIM and acknowledged Him for who He is.”
So what we see here in chapter 14 is the contrast between Christ and his disciples in how they chose to respond to emotional takeovers like sadness and fear, emotions that can and literally physiologically affect us and our responses to life.
Christ chose to respond with a Pause and Worship (focus time) with His Father. We often allow doubt and fear to gain a foothold in times of insecurity, anxiety, and just plain out of control.
What are you facing today that is allowing fear and doubt to control your reactions? The answer is a pause of Worship. I challenge you to pause right now; stop whatever you are doing and seek the face of God. If you don’t know Him, surrender to Him and ask Him to show you his face. He will reveal Himself to you if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is LORD. Jesus will reach out to you and grab a hold of you and keep you from sinking any more. The same holds true for believers. If doubt has crept into your life and your ability to “survive” the storms that life throws at you, then surrender to Jesus again. Pause and Worship Him now. And don’t stop until the storm has subsided and you can relax in the Love of our Savior.
If you are having difficulty with a process of surrender like this, reach out and it would be my pleasure to listen with you and see what God has in store for you. Together, we will cast out the foothold of doubt and begin the process of knowing Him better. I look forward to hearing from you.
Mike