“Come!” He said.
And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Matthew 14:29-31  HCSB

I used to read about Peter and shake my head. Poor Peter, he really struggled at times with his faith. He talked a good game, but there were times when he fell short. I then realized I am a lot like Peter. I have spent years of my life stepping out of the boat, walking on water, losing focus, becoming afraid, and beginning to fall. I am so grateful that God has always been there with His hand out to catch me.

In our scripture passage today, the disciples see Jesus walking on the water. Peter wants to be like Jesus, he wants to walk on water also. So, Jesus extends the invitation to come to Him and be like Him. Isn’t that just how it is when we see the peace and joy of a fellow believer or we are just tired of being tossed about by the waves of life? We want that salvation that Jesus has to offer. We want the peace and joy that comes with a life lived with Him. So, we tell Him we want to be like Him and we commit to do that.

Now as long as our eyes stay focused on Jesus and we trust in Him and obey His commands, we can walk on the water with no problems. We can be like Him. Just like Peter, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13) even walk on water. But the minute we take our eyes off of Jesus and begin to focus on all that is wrong around us, we begin to sink. Instead of trusting that God’s got this, we start to play the “what if” game. You know, the game where you think about “what if” the worst case scenario happened. Before you know it, you have yourself convinced that doomsday is just a matter of minutes away and all hope is lost. The sky is falling and you are drowning in the water beneath you. The devil is right there to remind you of other times when God didn’t give you what you wanted. The devil will lie to you and tell you things like God doesn’t care about you or God will not come through for you. He may try to convince you that this is because of that tremendous amount of guilt you should be carrying around. The devil will try to weigh you down, because trust me, he wants you to sink like a cinder block. As you become weighed down by all this guilt and unbelief, you can feel yourself sinking. I hate to say it, but I’ve been there many times. But now, praise God, I finally understand it.

Just like Peter, when we realize that we are just about to go under, we cry out, “Lord, save me!” We were content to do it our way until that almost got us drowned. Just as in Peter’s case, Jesus immediately reaches out His hand and catches us. My friend, I have gone through this many times and I can tell you that Jesus has always been there to catch me before I go under.

Have you stepped out of the boat with this tremendous amount of faith, only to have things not go as they planned? Maybe you have felt as though Jesus let you go. There were times when I felt that Jesus had let me go. I later realized that the plans I had for myself were not what was best for me. Jesus was working everything out when I thought He was tearing it all down.

I realize that he must have walked with me through some places where he hated to see me go. He was there when I did things that broke His heart. He stayed right by my side. He just wasn’t going to grab me and snatch me away from my sinfulness. He gave me free will to sin as I pleased. But the minute I began drowning in my sin and cried out to Him to save me, He was right there. He immediately reached His hand out and got busy cleaning up the mess I had made.

It took a lot of years, but I have decided to just keep hold of His hand. I have decided to follow Him and cling tightly to Him. There have been some tests that have come my way, but when I feel myself sinking, I remember that He is right there to grab hold of me. He won’t let me fall.

Maybe you have gone under a few times because of your lack of faith. Maybe you are running a little low on faith today. It’s okay if you are, because He is right there. All you have to do is cry out, “Lord, save me!”  He will immediately reach out to you. Then, all you’ll have to do is take His hand.

Have a great day!