Jesus’ disciples once set sail for the venue of the next meeting without Him. He had asked them to go ahead of Him while He stayed back to pray. When He got to the riverbank long after His disciples had left, He simply stepped right on the water and started walking towards their boat. To Him, there wasn’t any difference between the ground and the water. He walked normally as anyone on the ground would. When His disciples saw Him afar off walking on water, they were sore afraid because they had never seen anyone walk on water. Then Jesus comforted them saying “…Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid” (Matthew 14:27).
Immediately Peter heard that voice his fear vanished. He knew it was the Master as he had heard the same voice many times before. While the others were still skeptical and cautious, Peter asked for the big one: “…Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water” (Matthew 14:28). “Come on!” Jesus replied excitedly, because He was impressed with Peter’s trust in Him. Though Peter later started sinking because he took his eyes off Jesus, he still had more faith than the eleven scared disciples that remained in the boat. All of them could have danced on the water that day, but their unbelief robbed us of having an even greater story to tell today.
Now, this reveals a lot about the life God has called us to live. Christianity is the life of walking on the water, and in this life, we do not judge circumstances according to sight or sensory perception ( Isaiah 11:3). Jesus and Peter were walking on the same water, they both saw the same winds and waves, yet One was unmoved, but the other, without the Holy Spirit, doubted and started sinking. Thank God today that we have the very nature of God by virtue of our New Birth in Christ. It’s the miraculous life where we can do and have anything we desire when we remain steadfast in the faith of God.
