Have you ever tried to imagine what it felt like? Peter sees Jesus walking on the water and says, “If it’s you, Lord, let me come to you.” Jesus says OK and Peter swings his feet over the side, aware of being nowhere near the shore but too keyed up to really think about it. He must have felt pure excitement in the heat of the moment, fear when the wind ruffled his hair, and then dread when he accidentally looked down.
Would you have wanted to get out of the boat? After all, Peter was the one who asked.
The different translations of Matthew 14:22 say that Jesus made his disciples get in the boat and set sail “straightaway”, “immediately” or “as soon as the meal was finished”. In fact, the disciples had just seen Jesus break bread and divide fish into enough portions to feed over 5000 people! And they even had leftovers!
On that day long ago, Jesus was interested in teaching his followers to have faith. He asked them to do the impossible, and then he used what was available to demonstrate that nothing is impossible for him. Before entrusting his disciples with their miraculous mission, Jesus needed to reveal the magnitude of his power, which would serve as the foundation for their faith in real-world, hands-on miracle making.
Now, speaking of faith .... What kind of faith does it take to do miracles? Faith in God is really the easy part (excuse me for saying that). What caused Peter to sink wasn't a lack of faith in Jesus - it was a lack of faith in his own ability to put one foot in front of the other without listening to his mind screaming, "It won't hold you!!! It can't!!"
Faith is designed to override fear (and sometimes to fight logic). Ephesians 2:10 says that God prepared good works for us to do. If we lack the faith in our own ability to do them, we "sink". Why would God call us to do something he knows we're incapable of doing?
The very fact that he calls you to it means that he knows you can do it.
Do you want to get out of the boat now?
Matthew 14:13-33 (NKJV, NIV, MSG)
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