Twin Peaks

The scripture for today is Matthew 14:30-31

Matthew 14:30-31 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 you of little faith, why did you doubt?

When Jesus came walking on the water to His disciples who were in a boat, they were filled with awe.  Peter asked Jesus to allow him to come out on the water also. Jesus told him to come. Our text today tells us what happened to Peter as he walked out to Jesus on the water. In order to reach Jesus, to do what He was doing, to be where He was, Peter needed to have the faith of Jesus. It is not possible to be with Christ, to stand with Him, without His faith. The faith of Jesus enables us to stand in the midst of the trials and storms of life.

Peter saw that the wind was "boisterous." The wind had not suddenly changed; the wind was boisterous when Peter got out of the boat. If it did not bother him then, why should he take notice of it after he was out of the boat and walking on the water? The enemy will do everything possible to cause us to take our eyes off of Jesus and focus on the circumstances around us. Considering the circumstances instead of looking to Jesus leads to the loss of faith. Peter lost his focus; consequently, he lost his faith. We, unfortunately, do the same thing. But thank God; He never gives up on us. Even when we lose focus, even when we are attending to the wrong things, He is there to hear our cry for help and to rescue us from disaster. 

Some see this story as evidence that Peter did not have faith. But he was the only disciple that got out of the boat. He did what He was granted permission by Christ to do. His problem was in listening to another voice other than the voice of the Lord. That voice told him to look at how bad the weather was, to look at the unfavorable circumstances. Circumstances are irrelevant if Christ issues a command. Other voices will try to entice us to take our eyes off of Jesus, but we must ignore those voices and inclinations and stay focused on the One who is greater than circumstances. When we look to Him and continue to move toward Him, we are in the safest place that we could be regardless of what is happening around us.

"Every moment we stand in need of Christ: while we stand - we are upheld by His power only; and when we are falling, or have fallen, we can be saved only by His mercy. Let us always take care that we do not consider so much the danger to which we are exposed, as the power of Christ by which we are to be upheld." Adam Clarke

God bless you as you continue in His service.

Tim