After a full day of ministry, Jesus remained behind to pray by Himself while He sent the disciples on ahead by boat. When evening came, Jesus miraculously walked on the water, intending to pass them by. But it didn’t work. The disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, thought it was a ghost, and immediately became terrified. So, Jesus walked toward their boat to calm their fears.

As Jesus comes near the boat, Peter gets bold. “Lord,” he says, “if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus simply says, “Come,” and Peter steps out of the boat. For a while (we don’t know how long) things seem to be going well, until Peter sees the wind and the waves. Seeing the danger around him, Peter becomes afraid and begins to sink crying out, “Lord, save me.” Immediately, without hesitation, Jesus reaches out His hand and grabs Peter, guiding him into the boat.

How often have we heard or read that story and asked for a faith like Peter’s to get out of the boat? “O Lord,” we pray, “I’ve got this big opportunity, but it will be risky and mean a lot of changes. Help me to have a faith like Peter’s and get out of the boat.” The problem with this way of thinking is Jesus’ response to Peter: “O you of little faith…” Jesus does not praise Peter’s faith that led him to get out of the boat.

The glory of Peter is not found in the brief moments of his walking on water. The glory of Peter is found in his reaction to his sinking, “Lord, save me!” Hopefully, the lesson that Peter learned that early morning on the Sea of Galilee was not, “if my faith were stronger, I could have walked farther.” The lesson that he should have learned was “if my pride takes me to a place of danger, I know the Lord will save me.” Hopefully, Peter learned that Jesus would not leave him when we make a grave mistake.

This is a good lesson for us to learn as well. The main purpose of our faith in God is not so that we can “step out of the boat” and do more and more things for God. The main purpose of our faith is for us to know that, when we are sinking, Jesus will reach out His nail-scarred hand and rescue us.

Thank you, Jesus.

In Christ,

Tom Vanderbilt