“You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Jesus asks Peter, pulling him into the safety of the boat after sinking into the water.
“You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Another way you could put it according to the Greek is: “You trust too little, why did you waver?”
“You trust too little, why did you waver?”
Peter’s fear on the stormy seas and the fear that I imagine on his face transports my mind to the fear on the face of a little one who was taking one of his first toddler swims in our pool. Isaac was very young, but just old enough to know that water can be dangerous. Anticipating the fear that he may have, I held onto Isaac tight as we waded into the waters of the pool. His back was against my stomach and my arms were wrapped around his entire mid-section.
Understand, there was no way that Isaac was in any danger. I had him. It would have taken a meteor, falling from the sky and striking me directly at that very moment for me to have dropped him into the two and a half foot deep pool of water. In case you were wondering, being struck by a meteor is a 1 in 250,000 chance. It was not going to happen. Isaac had nothing to worry about.
Yet, the small ripples generated from the pump of the pool must have looked like the gigantic waves of Peter’s storm. Isaac started to panic as the water started to rise upon his body. He felt as if he was in danger. He felt as if he were alone as he stared at the waves. He felt as if he needed saving.
And, Isaac is not alone in this feeling. We have so many phrases in the English language to describe this very feeling. “I feel over my head” as if the waters are taking over. “I feel pulled under.” “I feel awash.” “I feel overcome.” “I have a sinking feeling.” “My life is being Petered.”
“Alright, I just made up that last one, but it should be a phrase because Isaac was just like Peter. He was looking out at the massively dangerous ripples upon the depths of the two and a half foot deep swimming pool, and he felt as if he was going to sink to his demise. His life was being Petered.
And, I have felt the same way as a flood of grief has overtaken me, or the depths of depression have pulled my under, or the cascading wave of expectation has curled over my life, threatening to crash.
Remember that Peter did not always feel that way though. Peter bravely asked Jesus if he could walk to him on the waters, and Jesus responded, “Come.” And, all was good at first. He was walking toward Jesus on the water. He was standing upon the chaos below without wavering. He was in control of his world, in the same was as Jesus. They were both walking on the water.
But, the Bible says, “When he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened” (Matthew 14:30).
“Noticed the wind,” is so gentle of a translation, as if he was walking among the flowers and notices the breeze flowing across the flowers in gentle ripples. No! Peter’s realization sound a lot more like: “But suddenly becoming aware of the tempestuous winds, he was paralyzed with fear and was sinking…”
Peter was just fine, but when he became aware of the storm he was walking in, he began to sink.
This is going to happen to Peter again. When Jesus is facing death on a cross, Peter will declare that he will go with Jesus all the way, he will never abandon Jesus. Yet, when the enormous storm of Jesus’ death starts to blow, Peter suddenly becomes aware of the winds and, in fear for his life, denies Jesus three times. He runs away.
And though infant Isaac loved the water of the pool, toddler Isaac became aware of the waters and the dangers that they pose, and he started whipping his arms and legs everywhere, crying out in fear. He was like a scared octopus, his tentacles flailing all over the place.
But here is the thing: nothing was going to happen to him. I had my arms wrapped tightly around Isaac’s entire midsection. I was right there. And, as he flailed his arms and legs all over the place I realized what the problem was. The problem was that Isaac was not looking at me. For a brief moment, Isaac thought that he was alone in that water with no one to help. For a brief moment, Isaac thought that he would sink. If only he had looked at me.
So, I turned Isaac around and let him cling his arms and legs around me as I held onto him. He was fine entering into the water while he was clinging to me. He was fine when looking at me. He was able to enter into the fearful waters only when he was facing me.
Notice that Peter’s problems started when he took his eyes off Jesus. Peter looked over, and became aware of the strength of the winds. And, though the winds and the waves were truly threatening, Jesus was there the entire time.
Jesus is not afraid of the winds and the waters. Jesus helped put those winds and waters in their place at the beginning of creation. Jesus is able to calm the storm. Jesus is able to walk upon the storm unscathed. And, that same Jesus was with Peter the entire time.
“Peter cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him” (Matthew 14:30-31).
That “hand” that Jesus uses to pull Peter out in the Greek language is so much more than a “hand.” It is the divine hand. It is the divine hand that calmed the chaos waters and created the world. It is the divine hand that saves God’s people in battle. It is the divine hand that both creates and destroys. It is the divine hand that controls the destinies of humankind. It is the hand of the one who will literally grab and take possession of Peter, pulling him close and shaping his destiny. It is the hand of the one who calms the storm.
I do not know if you need to hear this or not, but Jesus has his hand out as he stands on the waters of your storm too. Undoubtedly, you are focused on the turbulence of the storm. Do not worry if that is true. Peter stared at the turbulence also. Fear may be drawing your focus into the depths where you are terrified that you will drown, but Jesus’ attention is on you. Jesus is standing on the waters of your storm, reaching out for you with his divine hand.
“Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid,” Jesus says to you. (Matthew 14:27)
“Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Isaac got much better by the way. Brandishing a nice pair of orange goggles Isaac now fearlessly plunges into the waters and swims like a fish. He has overcome his fear of the waters. My wife or I are nearby, of course, to grab him when he swims into trouble. But, he knows that. He knows that we are there. With that sort of trust, he spins and summersaults through the water, a master of his fear.
And, Peter will get there too. He will become the “rock” of the early church. He will trust more and more that Jesus is there. He will trust more and more that Jesus saves. He will trust more and more not to fear. But, it is not because he himself becomes great. It is because Jesus is great, and Peter learns more and more to cling to him.
After-all, the storms and floods of terror will burst into our lives again and again. Opportunities to crumble into fear will sweep across our lives continually. But, we have not built our house on sand, where the waters will beat and wash it away. We have built our house on rock. We have built our house on the one who can walk on the waters. We have built our house on the one who can calm the waters. We have put our trust in Jesus. Jesus is our rock. And, standing on him, may we never waver.
But, if we do, if we ever feel like our life is being “Petered,” we know who walks on the storm waters and cannot sink; the one who rose up from the dead; Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Truly he is the Son of God.
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