by Dick Buckingham
Administrator
I have been thinking lately about Peter’s trek upon the
waters of the Sea of Galilee (Matt. 14:22-33) thanks to a currently meaningful
song by Hillsong United, “Oceans.”* The
opening stanza of the song personalizes this experience of one of His
disciples.
He calls me out upon the waters, the great
unknown, where feet may fail.
Most of us are familiar with this story. Jesus had just finished up what was one of
the most incredible miracles He performed while on the earth, feeding over 5000
people with five loaves of bread and two fish.
It was a desolate place where the people had come to see Him, hear Him
and experience His miraculous wonders.
It was getting late and He urged the disciples to go on ahead of Him
across the Sea. He stayed on shore to
dismiss the people and to spend some time in prayer.
Meanwhile the disciples had encountered some problems
getting to the other side. The wind was
against them and they were rowing with all their might to try to fight it to
their destination. Along with the wind,
they battled the waves. It must have
been a significant hindrance as they had been rowing practically all night and
were still a good distance from land.
It was then that Jesus came to them in a manner they were
not expecting, walking on the water as though it were pavement, and making much
better progress than they were. We are
not told, but apparently the disciples assumed Jesus would catch a ride with
another boat that was crossing, for they certainly didn’t expect Jesus to come
across the water on foot. When they saw
Him, their immediate reaction was fear.
I am reminded how easy it is for me to experience fear in
the midst of trial and hardship. It is
almost my first reaction to anything that I am not expecting. And yet, as in the case of the disciples, it
is often at the presence of God’s provision for the trial that I quake the
most. When the gracious hand of God is
extended to me, I tend to cower in fear.
Once Jesus had identified Himself, very likely using the
Personal Name of being that identified Him as God in the flesh, Peter asks
Jesus to invite him outside of the boat to walk upon the wind-whipped waves
that had been preventing them for getting to shore. I have asked myself why Peter would do
this. Who would even think of such a
thing at a time like this? Did he think
it was really cool and wanted to try it out?
Was he impetuous and just blurted out the first thing that came into his
head without really thinking through the consequence? Was his faith so large because he had been in
the midst of all the miraculous activities earlier that day? Why would he ask to do what, in all other
cases, would be impossible? Though we
are left to speculate at the ultimate reason, it is obvious that Peter is ready
to back up his request with the faith necessary to actually go over the side of
the boat at Jesus’ bidding.
Most of us would not ask to be put in a situation of
hardship and trial that would test our faith. If you are like me, you have plenty of
opportunities to test your trust in God without seeking more. Yet the ride for Peter must have been
incredible, albeit brief. Can you
imagine putting your full weight upon something that all your experience has
shown will not hold your weight and have it now fully support it? It must have been a tremendous
faith-exploding experience!
Spirit
lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior
Have you the courage to pray thus? Would the experience of walking upon the
water with Jesus be worth the wind and the waves?
Peter walked upon the water for a time, but the scripture
tells us that instead of looking at Jesus and pressing
forward toward Him,
Peter began to look about himself. He
was reminded again of all his experience with water in the past. It had never held him up before. And the wind and waves! These had not ceased just because he was out
of the boat. These continued to rise and
fall as they had been doing much of the night and now he felt vulnerable
outside the safety of the boat. He took
his eyes off Jesus and focused upon his circumstances. This is something you and I know well. We know with all our hearts that God is
good. We know that He is more than able
to do far more abundantly than we can think or imagine. Yet our gaze is drawn with laser-focus to our
circumstances and we begin to think these will overwhelm us. We take our focus off the One who knows us
and knows everything we are going through and knows the way through. Just like Peter, we began to sink and the old
fear comes back once again.
While Peter’s faith waned, it was not completely gone as he
knew to whom he needed to cry out. He
could have asked the other disciples to throw him a rope or reach out the
oar. He could have tried to reverse
course and swim back to the boat. But he
did not. He cried out to Jesus, “Save
me.” Even in the midst of failing faith,
he turned to the one place he knew there would be help.
And
I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
The reality is, Peter experienced a level of intimate
relationship with Jesus that none of the other disciples shared. He was the only one who walked on the water
with Jesus. He was the only one who
experienced the strong hand of Jesus pulling him up to save him. It is as though each trial we face in our
lives is the opportunity to experience anew the grace of salvation. Nothing assures us more that we belong to
Him than when we see Him provide in the circumstances that are beyond our own
ability.
A couple of observations to ponder:
1. We will
experience that call of Jesus to come upon the waters of tribulation many times
in our walk with Him. It is the
expectation of His disciples. Do not
fear. Have faith.
2. He is on the water of tribulation Himself. He is not sending you out alone or into
something He has not already conquered Himself.
Look for Him in the midst of the wind and waves of the trial you are
experiencing.
3. Keep your eyes above the waves and on Him. It is easy and natural to focus on
circumstances and try to fix whatever we are dealing with. “Seek first the kingdom of God,… and all
these things will be added as well.”
(Matt. 6:33)
4. Call out to Him.
There is salvation in no other.
Though we may think that we can find another solution to our trial, it
has most likely been given to us to cause us to trust more fully in Him.
Your
grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sov'reign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now
*Joel
Houston | Matt Crocker | Salomon Ligthelm © 2012 Hillsong Music Publishing
(Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing)
