“If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself” (2 Timothy 2:13 NLT).
The pounding of his heart broke through the silent darkness as Peter saw a white figure walking closer to their boat. They grabbed the wooden ores and hysterically attempted to paddle away, but their boat remained still. The figure got closer and closer until the face was visible; it was the face of Jesus Christ. They gasped in disbelief as they realized that Jesus had walked barefoot over the water to their boat.
The sound of men crying in astonishment echoed in the background as Peter boldly stood up and fixed his eyes on the serene eyes of Jesus. Peter intently called out “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” Jesus reached out His gentle yet powerful hands and calmly replied “Come.” Without looking down or to the side, Peter stepped out of the boat and onto the water. He carefully began to step forward toward Jesus and began to walk on the water. With each step that he took he gazed deeper into Jesus’ eyes and continued to walk atop the water. However, a gush of wind pounded against his body without warning and his eyes instantly turned away from Jesus and onto the wind and the water that settled below his feet.
Immediately he realized what he was doing and his feet rapidly began to sink into the deep sea. He desperately howled “Lord save me!” as his face began to immerse in the water. Just then Jesus extended His hand out to Peter and grabbed him up saying “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:25-32)
When we have our eyes fixated on Jesus Christ we can walk through anything, even the inconceivable trials in our lives. Sometimes the storms of life began to hit us from all sides and we too get our eyes off Jesus and onto our storms. It is at these times that we begin to lose faith and quickly sink into the sea of hopelessness and despair. However, when we devotedly abide in Jesus and the power of His Holy Spirit our faith begins to grow and our eyes begin to focus on Him . . . alone. We then forget about our circumstances and care only about walking to Him in faithfulness.
Are you walking on water in faith toward Jesus today or are you sinking in the sea of despair and doubt? Do you walk toward Him regardless of the storms that encircle you or do you only walk toward Him when the ground is hard and the skies are clear? Jesus sets His eyes upon you and calls out to you to come and He promises to care for you and to protect you if you do. Jesus is faithful to all His promises, so will you be faithful to come to Him?
Jesus, forgive me for failing to keep my eyes on You. I know that only You can walk me through the storms of life, so I ask that You lift me out of the sea I have sunk into and pull me in closer to You. I trust You and will faithfully look to You so I too can walk on water.
In Jesus’ love,
Denise Trujillo
