Peter With The Wet Clothes

 

Disclaimer: Obviously I am not an actual angel. However, I feel like God speaks to my heart and I would love to share it with you. Please enjoy.

So, there they were in the middle of the Sea of Galilee and a wind came up. Mind you, it was no small wind. The waves were huge and the disciples thought they might go down.

They were all alone out there because Jesus had stayed on shore to pray. Just when they thought it couldn’t get any worse, it got worse. Suddenly they saw a ghost walking on the water. Now they were terrified.

But then Peter thought he recognized Jesus and said, “Lord, if that is You, tell me to come to You.” To Peter’s relief Jesus told him to come.

Do you think you would have had the courage to step out of the boat and try to walk on water? I would like to think I would have, but truthfully, the odds aren’t real good that would have happened. However, Peter found the courage and the faith to take that first step. And it worked.

There he was, a simple man like all of us, walking on water. People can’t do that. Only God can walk on water, unless of course God tells you to do it. Then you can. Peter became very famous for having the faith to step out.

A lot of people think that was the most important part of the story. Don’t get me wrong, that is a very important part. But then other people talk about how Peter failed because he looked around at the situation and became scared.

LOSER! He took his eyes off Jesus and sank. The foolish man. Why didn’t he just keep his eyes on Jesus and stay on top of the water? So now he is famous for failing at his attempt to walk on water, because his faith faltered. Many people think that is the most important part of the story. Peter failed.

Truthfully I can tell you there is very little chance that I would have failed at it. Not because I am so super spiritual and full of faith, but rather because I seriously doubt that I ever would have found the faith and courage to step out on the water in the first place. You can’t fail at walking on water if you never step out.

But, I don’t think the fact that he became frightened and sank is the most important part of the story either. To me, what happened next is the real lesson.

I don’t know about you, but if I suddenly found myself sinking in the Sea of Galilee in extremely rough waves due to the strong winds, I would have panicked. Probably the only solution I would have seen would have been to do my best to turn around and try to dog paddle back to the boat. There is about a 99 percent chance I would have drowned.

What did Peter do when he realized his faith had waivered and he was sinking? He did the only thing he could. He looked up and said, “Lord save me.” Jesus immediately reached down and took Peter by the hand and pulled him up. And yes, even though Jesus rescued him, now his clothes were soaking wet and he was even colder than before, but he was safe. If he hadn’t lost faith for a moment he still would have been dry and not as cold. But, I can’t criticize him. After all, he is the only human who has ever walked on water.

So, yes this is a story of faith and failure, but more importantly to me is that it teaches us what to do when we fail, because we all fail. Do we try to save ourself, or do we turn to Jesus and ask Him to save us? Only one of those scenarios works, and it works every time.

Think about it.

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