Peter was a water walker. He was the kind of guy that wanted to take advantage of any and every experience with Jesus - even to the extreme of walking on water.
Matthew 14:22-32 gives the account of Peter's famous water-walking moment. In summary, Jesus told the disciples to get in the boat. Jesus took some time alone to pray. When he was done, it was late and the boat had drifted quite a ways out due to the wind. So, Jesus began walking on the water towards the boat. The disciples saw him and thought he was a ghost. Peter, our bold and daring disciple, challenged the "being" on the water saying, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." Jesus invited him to join, and the next thing Peter knew, he was walking on water, too! Then the wind picked up, struck fear in Peter, and he began to sink. Jesus took him by the hand and led him to the boat.
When Jesus reached out and caught Peter, he said one thing to him, "You of little faith. Why did you doubt?"
Has God called you to get out of the boat and walk on water? Or, has God called you to move out of your comfort zone and to step into something that seems completely impossible? Has God called you to greater faith? Greater responsibility? Greater things? When those moments come, and they do, and they will, it can be both exciting and scary all at the same time.
We ask ourselves: "Can I do this?" "Is this really God?" "What if I mess up?" "Will God be there to catch me?"
The lesson here is: don't look down. When God calls you out of the boat, don't look down. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. The wind will blow and work hard at distracting you, but you must never turn your eyes away from Jesus.
Don't look down.
When we look down, we doubt that God will be faithful. We doubt that God will see us through. We doubt that his initial invitation to step out of the boat was real. We begin to doubt everything that led us to that moment.
If we would just hang in there, set our eyes on Jesus, and walk forward, we will not just walk on water, but we will find our way to the perfect place of peace, fulfillment, and reward.
Don't look down. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Take courage...Jesus is right out in front of you!