Through it all

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW

THROUGH IT ALL

Matt 14:22-33

22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."  28 "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29 "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"  32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

NIV

Alright, we have come to Peter and his water walking experience. Wouldn’t we know it had to be Peter who did this, being such an outgoing brash type of person, at least that is our take from all else we know about Peter? The scene is the disciples in a typical type fishing boat, which were privileged to see the fairly well-preserved remains of this typical type boat in the Yigal Alon Museum in Kibbutz Ginosar, Israel. This boat was twenty-seven feet long and seven and a half feet at the widest place.

 It would certainly have been big enough for twelve men powered either with oars or a small sail, or both. However, the point here is that Peter asked if the person they saw was Jesus, as He said he was, then tell Peter to get out of the boat and walk to Jesus on the water. Jesus said, “Come”, and that was enough for Peter. Here is the problem. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, he was walking on the water, but as soon as he took a look at his circumstances, the waves, and the wind, he began to sink. Of course, Jesus reached out and took him by the hand and we must know that Peter was once again walking on the water and walking with Jesus to the boat. As soon as Peter and Jesus got into the boat the sea became calm. We can, as many preachers have, make the case that as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus and not our circumstances in life, we will metaphorically walk on water. When we were in a boat, much larger than the one the disciples were in, and it was motor-powered, while we were just floating with the engine off, we so wanted to step out of the boat, but we did not hear Jesus tell us to come. So we stayed put, however still worshipful. But this does speak to the way we walk in life. We cannot be afraid, and we need to step out of the boat, so to speak, and keep walking with Jesus. If we are walking with Him, we will not sink. It does not matter our situation, how many waves there are in life. Jesus is our way to walk through those circumstances and not be affected by them. It is sort of like a photograph we took from the widow of an airplane at thirty-thousand feet. At take-off it was cloudy, snowing, almost blizzard conditions, and we were much affected by it, but in that plane well above those circumstances, the sun was shining, and it was a beautiful blue sky, over those billowing clouds. Yes, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus, and we will be walking with Him through it all. Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God. Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon his word.