Walk on the Water

Lately, there is a seeming constant state of unrest. Between the pandemic, politics, and protests, among other things, there is always something vying for your attention, drawing your focus to circumstances, rather than to the cross. Everywhere you turn there are opinions and offenses, lines drawn and more and more division. With so much happening, it can be so easy to get caught up in it all, and the next thing you know, we feel like we are sinking. We may feel stress or anxiety, hurt, or misunderstood. We may feel something entirely different, but regardless of how we are feeling, it is the same result - we have lost our peace. 

If we want to see peace in the streets, we need to first let peace reign in our own lives. Peace is not determined by outside circumstances or forces, but peace is rooted in Christ. 

I think of the passage in Matthew 14, where it describes Jesus walking on the water to his disciples. This story is also told in the book of Mark, as well as John, however, it is in Matthew that we see that Peter also walked on the water. Many of us are familiar with this passage: 

“Shortly before dawn 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?”

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Matthew 14:25-33

We see in this passage what a little faith and keeping your eyes on Jesus can do - the impossible. Peter walked on the water. I love going up to Lake Erie with my family. We spent many vacations there over the years. Sometimes, when we would go down to the water, it looked like a calm and still sea of glass. It was almost as if you could just run on it . Of course, you couldn’t. But that peaceful and quiet water isn’t like when Peter and the disciples saw Jesus walking toward them. 

The wind was blowing and the waves were crashing. Peter got out of the boat, stepping out to meet Jesus in the midst of everything going on around him.  It was only when he took his eyes off Jesus and looked around at his circumstances, the crashing waves around him, that he began to sink. 

We can have peace in turbulent times when we keep our eyes on Jesus. 

I also love in this passage where it says that the wind died down when Jesus and Peter got back into the boat, those with him recognized Jesus as the Son of God, and they worshiped. 

Jesus is the true prince of peace. 

Peace is not dependent on our present outward circumstances, but on who truly reigns in our hearts and lives. 

Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” 

The Passion Translation puts it this way, “Perfect, absolute peace surrounds those whose imaginations  are consumed with you; they confidently trust in you.”

We need to actively put our trust in the Lord and keep our eyes on Him. We need to fill our minds with the truth of who God is.  To look anywhere else, will cause us to sink. 

By no means does this mean to ignore what is going on in the world today. The other disciples were in the boat, in the very same waters that Peter stepped out on to meet with Jesus who was walking on the water. They were in the same circumstances. But when Jesus got into the boat with them, it was then they recognized him and worshiped him. We can keep our eyes on Jesus, while knowing and acknowledging what is going on around us, but also not losing sight of who is Lord over all.

Peter often gets a bad rap for taking his eyes off Jesus, for doubting. But here, I want to be like Peter who stood to recognize in the middle of uncertainty, in the middle of a storm, that it was Jesus out there walking on the water. And I want to have the faith to step out of the little boat I’m in, out of my perceived safety, and go and meet Jesus on the water. I want to acknowledge who He is, lock eyes with him, and have the faith to stand in places only possible when you’re walking with Jesus. I don’t want to just ride the storm without him, and not see him for who he is until the waves die down. When things are uncertain, I want to walk on the water.

How are you feeling today? Anxious? Distracted? Lonely? In the midst of how you are feeling, remember God is still on the throne. He sees and cares about the situation you are in, and He is there in the midst of it all. When you recognize where He is, and who He is, those feelings will melt away, and peace will follow. Look to Jesus, and be at peace today. 

Help us, Lord, to trust in you, to see you in the midst of everything going on in this world today. Let us recognize you out on the water, and let us trust you to keep us as we keep our eyes on you. Let us walk on the water with you and fill us with your peace. Amen.