“Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” – Matthew 14:31-33
Life is filled with storms – financial, physical, emotional, spiritual, relational, etc. In a storm, you become exhausted and overwhelmed. In a storm, you can become so overwhelmed by the crisis that you lose sight of Christ. This is what happened to the disciples as a storm came, blew them off course, was beyond their ability to overcome, and made them afraid, which explains why Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid.”
The bottom line in a storm is that you can either live by fear or faith. Fear is such a regular part of our lives that the command to “fear not” is repeated in our Bible more often than any other command. The solution to fear is faith – trusting that Jesus is coming into your storm just as He came to save the disciples in their storm.
Adrift all night in a sea, straining on the oars trying to survive, Jesus’ disciples are overwhelmed until Jesus arrives. Walking to them on the sea, Jesus relieves their fears, removes their storm, and restores their hope.
In this short account of Jesus walking on water, we see four things about Jesus that give us comfort for the storms in our lives. One, Jesus comes to those in a storm. The disciples did not have to find Jesus. Instead, Jesus found them. This is incredibly comforting. Two, Jesus is bigger than the storm. The storm was bigger than the disciples, but Jesus was bigger than their storm. The same is true for you. Three, the supernatural is bigger than the natural. The disciples faced a natural disaster of sorts that threatened to end their lives, but their supernatural God showed up and displayed His authority as Creator over His creation. How comforting is it to know that Jesus has supernatural power and can do anything that He wants without any power able to thwart His will? Four, Jesus can deliver from danger. Not only did Jesus arrive in the crisis, but He also brought an end to the storm and caused the boat to return safely to shore. This is the hope for our lives and all of human history for God’s people. To be sure, this world is one big storm that takes our energy, presses our anxiety, and blows us off course. The good news is that Jesus will get us to an eternally peaceful dock because He came to save us as He did the disciples at sea.
The story of Jesus walking on water appears in three of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, and John), but only in Matthew do we also learn that Peter also walked on water! How crazy must that have been to witness? Ever since Peter began to sink, some have criticized him. But I have yet to see any of his critics repeat his feat. Examining Peter walking on water in response to Jesus’ walking on water, we learn that as long as we keep looking to Jesus, we are alright, but once we get our eyes off Him, we are sure to start sinking.
Where are you experiencing fear in your life? Take some time and pray for Jesus’ comfort and strength to trust Him and continue to walk in faith.
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