Matthew 14:28-31 ESV And Peter answered Him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He (Jesus) 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.” Jesus immediately reached out His hand and took hold of him (Peter), saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
In the last post we saw that Peter had the faith to get out of the boat in the middle of a storm and walk on water to Jesus. As long as Peter trusted Jesus he could do the impossible.
The problem came when Peter’s focus on Jesus wavered. He saw the wind, which probably means he saw the waves the wind was kicking up, and he felt the water spray against his face. It occurred to him that people cannot walk on water. What he was doing wasn’t right, so he began to sink.
Yes, Peter was not capable of walking on water. God was capable of making Peter walk on water though. It was through faith that Peter tapped into God’s power. Jesus had told Peter to “Come” and He was pleased that Peter was obeying. Without faith, no one can please God (Hebrews 11:6) so when Peter started to lose his faith he lost his power.
Faith is trusting God and believing that He will keep His promises. When we know what the Bible says and trust God to do what He said He would then we have faith. What often weakens our faith is when we put our focus on our circumstances. If we look at the problems and the difficulties then it becomes harder to trust God. Because the problems begin to loom large and God starts to fade into the background. Conversely, when we look intently at God, the opposite happens.
If we trust God to overcome every obstacle then we can accomplish whatever He calls us to do. If we give more attention to the obstacles and focus on how big they are, we will not be able to trust God, and we will begin to sink.
Lord, You are all-powerful and completely trustworthy. I believe in You, but help me when doubt creeps in. Give me the faith to trust You always so that You can do mighty things in me and through me.