Facing Our Fears

This passage comes from Matthew 14.

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. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

This passage in Matthew follows directly after Jesus Christ’s miracle of feeding five thousand through 5 barley loaves and 2 fish.  Jesus recognized that the disciples were tired and had them rest in the boat.  I imagine He, himself, was tired also and went alone to spend time with the only one who could refill His cup.  Jesus went to pray alone.  While He was praying, the wind and the waves kicked up separating himself from His men.

²⁵ Shortly before dawn 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.

The disciples were seeing only what the divine Lord can do and they were afraid.  When we are faced with an issue in our lives which we cannot resolve in our human strength and skills, we call out to the divine.  When He hears our pleas and dips into our lives in such a way that we are reminded that He is Lord, are we afraid?  Or, do we confidently recognize the Lord when He walks in the water of our situation as only He can?

²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”

This is a reminder for us all in the difficult situations.  I have often found in my life that the Lord does His best work when it seems we are at the end of ours.  The disciples are at the end of the night, right before the sun breaks the horizon and they are afraid.  He reminds us to take courage and to not be afraid.  All throughout the Bible the Lord reminds all those that follow Him to “don’t be afraid” because He knows there are situations which will arise where we will need to be reminded that He is with us so we can “take courage” and be brave.  The most important sentence in this passage is when Jesus says “It is I.”  Translated differently He says, “It is I AM.”  When we know Jesus is the I AM that I AM – the One who will lead us through our place of captivity to the promised place like He did for Moses and the Egyptians – we have that courage for it reminds us He can do all things for those who believe and have eyes to see and ears to hear.

²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ “Come,” he said.

Peter recognizes who it is and asks for confirmation.  When we ask for confirmation, He will always draw us further to Himself.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

Peter, filled with courage and His eyes and heart affixed on Jesus, steps out of his comfort zone and towards Jesus, effectively walking on water.

³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

When Peter took his eyes of the Lord and onto the situation, He became afraid.  He noticed the wind and the waves and his mind was reminded of his earthly situation.  Fear and disbelief filled his heart and he began to sink.  Right away Peter cried out to the Lord as we all should in our desperate moments.

³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

Jesus immediately rescued Peter.  He catches him at his point of need.  I love it that this moment still occurs on the water.  Jesus lifts Peter back up and reminds him that we can do when our eyes are on the prize instead of the race.  When Jesus calls us to Him and we keep our focus on Him, we too can walk through our situation and be reminded of the Lord’s work in our lives.

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.”

When we witness the Lord rescues us and takes us through the situation to the place of calm and assurance, our hearts instinctively are called to recognize and worship the true Son of God.  This is true for those who are close to us even for a short time, too, as we observe the Lord work in their lives.

³⁴ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. ³⁵ And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him ³⁶ and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

When we know and recognize Jesus as the true Son of God, we recognize He is the one to heal us in all situations.  And we can faithfully believe that even a small encounter will transform us.