So for the past few days I've been thinking a lot about the story from the New Testament where Jesus walks on water, and Peter does too -- at least for a little bit. It's a pretty interesting story to study, with lots of connections to make and things to learn-- not to mention that walking on water is just a really cool miracle. (Matthew 14:22-33 for anyone who wants to read it! Highly recommended!)Anyways, as I was reading over the story this morning I reflected a lot on Peter. I think a lot of time we give Peter a pretty hard time-- about everything. Especially in this story, we tend to focus most of our attention on his doubt and fear that caused him to sink. We've all heard the lesson about always keeping our eyes on Christ so that we don't sink, which is a great reminder. But sometimes we forget to appreciate how much faith he did have. Peter was a convert of about 3 years, remember, and yet, he had the faith to jump out of a boat in the middle of a crazy storm. As a fisherman, he would obviously be familiar with the water and the dangers it could hold. Anyone can tell you that when in a storm, you generally want to be inside of the boat, not jumping out of it. However, Peter's faith in Christ was so great that he did jump out of that boat, and started walking towards Jesus. He walked on water! That is amazing!As I was reading and studying this story, something occurred to me that had never crossed my mind before:
How'd Peter get back to the boat?
It's a simple question, but one that the scriptures don't give us much detail about. Matthew tells us that as Peter began to sink, the Lord reached out and saved him. In the next verse it says that they reached the boat and Christ calms the storm. So I was left to wonder, what happened in between? Peter probably wasn't that close to boat, he had walked for a bit before sinking. And Christ had been a ways off, they hadn't recognized Him until He called out to them. And I think it's pretty safe to assume that Christ didn't just drag Peter by the hand through the water after saving him. So, Peter must have walked. On the water.
This small detail sent my mind spinning in so many different directions, and I loved it. Think about it! Just because Peter had doubted and sunk, didn't mean that he couldn't ever do it again -- he just needed a little bit of help. He needed the reassurance of Christ by his side. It is a comforting thought when applied to each of us. While we all need to remember to focus on Christ, unfortunately, there will come a moment when we start to sink, and we will need His help. And with His help, we can keep on walking, even though by all earthly reasoning we should be drowning.
As I further considered the story as a whole, I found myself relating it to the Plan of Salvation. At the beginning of the passage, Peter and the disciples are in the boat, a relatively safe place when compared to the rest of their surroundings. We too started out in a safe place. We lived with our Heavenly Father, in His presence. When given the option, we wanted to follow the Savior's plan. We knew it would be hard, there would be rain, and wind, and all sorts of stormy weather, but we looked to our Savior and we weren't afraid. So we jumped out of the boat.
And we started walking. And, as in inevitable, we all reach a moment when we doubt, when we are afraid. We start to sink. We cry out, begging for Him to save us. And the second we cry out, He's there to rescue us. His strong hand grasps our weak one and pulls us back up. He doesn't scold us nor does He condemn us for doubting -- He just gives a gentle reminder to have faith.Then comes the best part: we walk back together. Though the storm continues, though we may falter and begin to sink again, all we have to do is keep hold of His hand. And we can make it back. We won't be able to do it on our own, the storm is too strong and we are too weak. Our faith, no matter how much we have, will always be lacking. But fortunately for us, Christ is our lifeguard, and "His grace is sufficient" to do what we can't do on our own.
So go on, call out. Ask for His help and He will be there!
