The Commands of Christ, Part Twenty-Five

I doubt that I’m the only one who has prayed something along the lines of, “God, if you tell me what you want me to do, I will do it!” Sometimes, when you make that sort of claim, God calls your bluff. Let’s take a look at a time when Peter made the same bold proclamation. You can find it in Matthew 14:28-31 (NASB20)

Peter responded and said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

If you’re not familiar with the story, let me paint the scene. Jesus had just fed a massive crowd of 5,000 men plus a large number of women and children that the Bible doesn’t disclose. He then sent the disciples across the water in a boat while he sent the crowds away and went to pray alone. Later that night, the weather took a turn for the worse and suddenly, in the late hours of the night, they see a figure walking across the water. The first instinct of the disciples was to believe it was a ghost, but Christ tells them to take courage, it’s Him and to not be afraid.

Peter then issues the challenge: “Lord, if it is You…” In response, Jesus gives the command that he gives many of us: “Come!” To Peter’s credit, as soon as the Son said to come, he hopped out of the boat and started walking on water toward the Master.

My wife works as a counselor and, at the time of this writing, works primarily with kids. Sometimes, she sees good-hearted kids in awful situations. More than once she has in her frustration sighed and said, “I just wish I could take this kid out of the bad situation they’re in.” Then, one fateful day, she got the chance to do so and we became foster parents to a wounded 12-year old girl. Due to a complicated set of circumstances, the child ended up needing to go to another foster home. I still prayed for her as often as I thought of her. When she left, I gave her my phone number and told her that as long as she had the permission of whomever she was with, she could reach out to me any time. We kept in touch. I genuinely mourned having to watch her go the first time. But those last three words of that previous sentence should tell you there’s good news to this story. The following November, we were given the opportunity to let her come home. This time, however, she was free from the shackles of previous adoptive parents who’d caused her harm, but this time she also came back to us carrying more wounds and more hurt than when she left us.

Our precious foster child acted out. Too many people who’d claimed to love her betrayed the definition of that word and she’d lost sight of what it meant. People, including people who claimed to love and follow Christ, had given her emotional scars that she’d always carry. She made mistakes and ended up having to face some severe consequences for those mistakes. My mission from God was clear: love this kid so much that she lets go of the false love she’d received previously. We showed up every week for visitation to see her. We got to see a shift that only God can provide. We saw her eyes shift from hoping to see to knowing she would see us.

It isn’t walking on water, but it was God listening to my wife’s plea and telling her: “Come!” I’d love to tell you that through the whole process of loving this child has been smooth sailing and that we’ve kept our eyes on God and kept faith throughout it. There have been times I’ve questioned my home’s resources to provide for her (but thankfully, God can turn my little into much when I let it be used for Him). There have been times I’ve questioned my ability to love her enough to overcome the hurt she’s experienced from others. There have been times her learned behaviors have made me question if I had the patience to be the father she needs. But then, I think about Peter walking on water.

See, doubt is what made Peter start to sink. Once he was sinking, he called out to Jesus, terrified but knowing Christ could get him through it. Jesus, loving His disciple, wasn’t about to let him drown. Jesus, loving me, isn’t going to ask me to do something He is unwilling to equip me to do. He knows how much I have to give, even better than I know it, but He also knows how much help He is going to give me to do it.

Let’s look at verses 32 and 33, once they were both back on the boat:

When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are truly God’s Son!”

See, Jesus didn’t just tell his disciples not to worry because it was Him on the water. He didn’t just tell Peter to come out to Him. He didn’t just rescue Peter from his doubt. Jesus made sure that Peter was safe. He made sure the others were safe (the wind stopped). Even Peter’s moment of doubt turned into a moment of triumph for Christ! That’s what I want you to take from this story.

When you tell God you are willing, He is going to say, “Come!” You’re going to have to choose whether you meant it or not. If you did, you’re going to have to step onto the water. You’re human, and it’s very likely that you’re going to wonder if you’re really the right person to be doing what you’re doing (I wonder this with every small group or Sunday school lesson I teach). But when you turn your focus away from your doubt and back where it belongs, not only is God going to rescue from that doubt and make you safe: he’s going to magnify himself through it.

So follow these commands when it comes to stepping out onto the waters of serving God: Do not be afraid and come!