How do we walk on water with Jesus?

This morning I am reading in Matthew 14 and I ran across this parable that a little light glimmered across It:

 

28And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

 

 We all know it this parable. We have heard sermon after sermon about it. I just saw something new in it that I thought might speak to someone else as it did me.

 

Peter, being a fisherman, was not afraid of sinking in the water. He was a fisherman after all and in the water all the time. I am sure he had seen a lot of times in the water and well equipped to swim. What caused him to get his focus off God was not the water but the wind! As a fisherman he knew that the wind would create a storm and quickly. His mind is quickly calculating how fast they can get back to the boat. How far are they from the boat? How are they going to be able to stand through this storm without the safety of the boat to hold them up? He rushes through all the scenarios in his mind of how they can best handle the situation until he realizes, he has never been in this situation. How do mortal men walk on water and get to safety with a storm coming? All these thoughts must have rushed through his mind in a matter of seconds  He wants to protect them both but his quick exhaustive list has run dry. There is nothing he can do so he cries out “Lord, save me”. And Jesus acknowledges his heart. He was the first out of the boat but he wants so much more for him. So much more to give him. Peace in the midst of the storm. Eyes trusting not on earthly things but trained to see past that to trust the Father in all things.  Jesus admonishment was not about his faith out of the boat but his lack of faith that something bigger could change his focus. That his first thought was not trust in Him but trusting Peter’s abilities until Peter could not see a way they he himself could fix the situation. That he did not realize that Jesus would hold him through the storm, through the hard times, through the darkness of the unknown. That something as small as the wind would not take away from his care and protection.

 

Peter took his eyes off of what Jesus had for him. We all think that if we stepped out of that boat onto the water to walk, that we would be so in awe of God that we would have made it all the way. But how many times does God do a huge miracle in our life and then we turn around and have forgotten what He has done because the next crisis is on the horizon and our fear overcame our trust.