Jesus had dismissed His disciples so that He could spend some private time in prayer.

Meanwhile, the disciples were rowing their boat to the other side of the lake, and suddenly, “shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear.” (Matthew 14:25-26, NIV)

How would we react? Would we have been any better?

Jesus was not here to scare his disciples, however, and He immediately said: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:27, NIV)

That was when Peter realized Jesus was actually walking on the water! He wanted to walk with Jesus on the water as well! “‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘Tell me to come to you on the water.’”(Matthew 14:28, NIV)

Would we have joined Jesus on the water? If Jesus could do what happened next for Peter, He can do it for us as well!

At first Peter was smiling big. He was truly walking on the water. Never before in history had any human ever walked on water, yet here he was with Jesus, walking across the waves as if they were solid ground.

But Peter’s thoughts suddenly changed directions. He began to focus on the waves that were “…churning beneath his feet” (Matthew 14:30a, MSG)! With this realization, Peter, “…lost his nerve and started to sink.” (Matthew 14:30v, MSG). He called for help, and Jesus, in His mercy and grace, saved him. But not without a loving reprimand: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31, NIV)

As long as Peter focused on Jesus, he did not sink. It was when he allowed his eyes to stray to the waves of adversity that he went under.

Why?

Because he saw the wavers as way bigger than Jesus!

We, too, often sink when adversity hits us. “Help me, Jesus!” But we were not created to doubt. Rather, we were created to trust in Him!

I went into my first year of teaching as a true novice. I had been to Teachers College, but somehow real life is quite different from school, and the learning curve was tremendous. I did enjoy my work, however, and settled quickly into a routine.

One day, another teacher called out for my help. I was teaching a group of Grade 2 students at the time, and of course, these little ones needed continual supervision. Nonetheless, I attempted to help my colleague. Then, as is so often the case when the teacher’s attention is elsewhere, the class started to act up. I didn’t know how to handle the situation, and I started to “sink”.

Things went downhill from there. A young boys started to walk across the chairs, jumping from one seat to the next. Then he started to run, and before I could even cry out for him to stop, he fell to the floor.

He didn’t appear to have hurt himself, but when I got back home I couldn’t put the incident from my mind. What if he truly was hurt? What if his parents complained? What if…? Needless to say, I got very little sleep that night.

The next day that that boy came to me and said, “I like you, Mr. Chaffart. Thank you for being my teacher.”

I immediately asked him how he felt after his fall the previous day, to which he responded with a cheery, “I’m fine!”

All that worry for nothing. I had looked at the circumstances and seen them as being bigger than Jesus. If I had only put my trust in the Lord, I could have avoided all the stress of the previous evening.

Let’s choose to always stand in faith. After all, Jesus is with us. We can trust him at all times. Hurray!

Rob Chaffart