Matthew 14:22-31 KJV
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
A bit lengthy Scripture text, but this is necessary to properly see what is going on here.
The disciples were only doing what Jesus had told them to do: get into the boat, and go to the other side. While the wind and waves may have caught the disciples by surprise, Jesus wasn’t surprised. Many times, if not most times, while pursuing the will of God in our lives, we run into opposition, and it often catches us by surprise; we don’t expect the level of opposition or trial that we get. But you rest assured, Jesus knows - He knows the end from the beginning. Keep plowing through your trial...you will eventually get through it.
In verse 26, the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, and they were, well, scared.
I want to focus on verses 28-31. When Peter was certain that it was Jesus walking on the water, and Jesus invited him to come to Him, the Bible says that Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water to go to Jesus.
Wow! What an experience that must have been! But what happened next is very telling, and it applies to all of us today in our trials we face: as long as Peter was looking at Jesus, he was able to walk on that which was troubling him. But verse 30 tells us that when Peter saw the wind was boisterous, he began to sink.
In other words, when he took his eyes off of Jesus, and began to look at his problems, he began to sink. As long as he looked at Jesus, he was victorious over his dilemma. But when he looked at his problem, he was overcome.
In closing, I want to ask you this question…who are YOU looking at? If all you can see is your problem, you will be overcome. But if, in spite of your problem, you can see Jesus, YOU will be victorious!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Calvin Odom