But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. (Matthew 14:27-29a)
Jesus’ disciples are in the middle of the Sea of Galilee in a boat when a storm comes up. Jesus walks out to them on the water and, if the disciples were afraid before because of the storm, they are now terrified because Jesus is walking towards them on the surface of the water. Jesus then speaks words of comfort and courage to them. They do not need to be afraid because of the strange things that they are seeing. Jesus is with them.
Peter then asks Jesus to call him to come to him. Perhaps Peter did this simply because he wanted to be with Jesus and do what Jesus was doing. Whatever the reason, Jesus agrees to Peter’s request and calls him to come.
The storm is still raging, but Peter gets out of the boat and begins walking on the water toward Jesus. Only when he takes his eyes off Jesus does Peter become fearful and start to sink.
This was not a time when people knew how to swim, so by stepping out of the boat, Peter was putting his life in Jesus’ hands. When he began to sink, Peter, knowing that he was going to die, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus grabbed hold of Peter and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Only when Peter and Jesus climbed into the boat did the storm calm down.
Jesus is with us in the middle of the storms that we face in life. If we have the courage to ask, he will call us out of the boat of our comfort zone to live an amazing life with him that is not possible in any other way. This amazing life with Jesus will happen even though the storms of life will continue to rage around us. With our eyes on Jesus and our lives in his hands, we will have peace in the middle of the storm.
Dear Jesus, thank you for being with me in my stormy life. Help me to keep my eyes on you and put my life in your hands. Amen.
Farewell to Shadowlands 