Walking on Water – Matthew 14:22-36

But when he saw the wind, he was afraid…

Our tendency when reading this story is to give Peter a hard time… after all, he takes his eyes off Jesus and begins to sink.  Jesus even chides Peter a little bit, calling him, “You of little faith.”  But let’s remember that Peter had the faith to get out of the boat, while the rest of the disciples are still in the boat, presumably trembling with fear.

At the same time, there is something to be learned from Peter’s experience.  It seems as though he began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus and began to look at his problem.  Paralyzed by fear, he stopped moving, and began to sink.

Beginner drivers face a similar temptation.  Their tendency is to look at the oncoming car… or the obstacle in the road… or the guardrail.  And when they do, they are likely to steer the car directly toward the danger they wish to avoid! And so driving instructors have to remind students to look in the direction they want the car to go, not at the obstacle or danger.

We know exactly what that feels like, don’t we?  We are constantly tempted to focus our attention on the problem, instead of the Solution.  We get overwhelmed and begin to drown in our own complicated situations, and it takes our attention off from the One who is mighty to save.