The scripture below comes from Matthew 14:25-31
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 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. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
It is amazing how we look at Peter and say, “How dumb could he have been?” Now, put yourself in Peter’s place. It doesn’t sound so nice now does it? Life is filled with numerous choices that hand us consequence after consequence. How many times have we hurriedly stepped out on the unknown waters of life without really knowing what the result(s) would be? Even when Jesus had clearly identified himself in our situations we still asked him, “Lord, is it you?” When he allowed us to walk with him through the storm we should have felt secure, protected, and fortified, but we took our eyes off him because we saw the illusions of our doubt, the tension of our fear and resorted to our own mode of thinking which ultimately made us sink. The scriptures say that Peter saw the wind. People, it is not possible to SEE WIND! You can see the affects of wind but you can not actually see wind. We cannot let the illusionary storms make us see things that are not really there. Jesus is with us all the time, but we must allow our eyes to be guided by faith and not by illusion. Why do you doubt when Jesus is standing right there beside you? He will not suffer your foot to slip nor your spirit to sink, but he will keep you steadfast and firm while you realize your blessing in the storm. If you ever feel yourself sinking, cry out to Jesus for help and his hand will save you and restore you.
~ Rev. E. Shon Hagwood
