Stepping Out in Faith – Peter Versus the Storm.

Stepping out in faith is a key requirement of the Christian faith. Here, Peter steps out in faith into a storm and is saved by the Messiah.

Stepping Out in Faith Today

How much do you know about faith?  In a world and society that seems to offer countless reasons and excuses to not believe in God, why is it that we can’t seem to escape this call to faith, to believe in a power higher than ourselves?  This series, “Stepping Out”, is designed to help answer that question. 

Faith is important, in fact, it is vital to living the fullest life possible here on earth, and essential for what comes next, when our life here is done.  Now, I usually like to build up to this point, but I am just going to say it plainly from the start.  The decision we make about Jesus Christ, whether we believe in Him or not, will determine our ultimate destination, heaven, or hell.  More than that, it is the only thing that will determine where we end up. 

If you accept Jesus for who He is, and believe in Him, all the riches of heaven are yours, if you reject Him and don’t believe, you will end up separated from God for eternity in the lake of fire, in hell.  Having heard this, you are without excuse.  With so much riding on our decision regarding Jesus Christ, we really owe it to ourselves to learn more about Him, who He is, what He has done, and what faith in Him means.

A Story From Matthew

In this first part, we’re going to look together at a story from the Bible, found in the book of Matthew.  It’s the story that the title of this series comes from.  In chapter 14 of Matthew, it says this:

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:22-33

Who Jesus is and What Faith is About

I love this passage because it reveals so much to us about who Jesus is and what faith is all about.  We’ll start at the end, because that claim made by those in the boat, really sets the context for everything that happens in this story.  They say of Jesus, “Truly you are the Son of God.”  To truly explore what that means, could take an entire series of programs, but the summary version of this statement would be this; Jesus is the Son of God, which means He is fully God.  That is ultimately what the statement means, particularly in the culture of the day. 

This is reinforced throughout the New Testament writings, such as Colossians 2:9, where it says that

“In [Jesus] the fullness of God dwells bodily.” 

And in Hebrews 1:3 where speaking of Jesus it says

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the universe by the word of His power. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

A Declaration

In the story from Matthew, they are declaring something that they should have already known, or at least suspected, about who Jesus was.  Immediately before this experience on the boat, they watched Jesus feed a crowd of more than 5,000 people, to satisfaction, with just a few small loaves of bread and a couple fish. 

They had seen Jesus heal the sick, restore sight to the blind, make the lame to walk again, even raise the dead.  Our story picks up though after the feeding of the 5,000.  It had been a long day, and Jesus sent His disciples away to cross the Sea of Galilee while Jesus stayed behind to enjoy some time in prayer. 

Important Little Details

Often in the Bible, little details are given because they reveal things of great importance.  That is the case here.  It says they left in the evening, got into the boat, and then a storm came upon them.  Now, you can look this up, storms on the Sea of Galilee can be quite severe, even today. 

So, to see this team of disciples, which included at least four seasoned fishermen, struggling against the waves is not all that surprising.  But then it mentions that they are still on the water at the fourth watch of the night. 

The Various Parts of the Day

To unpack this, we need to look at how they viewed the days.  Evening, started at 6:00pm, that would be around the time the disciples got into the boat.  It would also be the start of the first watch of the night, which would last from 6pm through to 9pm.  The fourth watch, began at 3am and lasted until 6am, morning.  This means the disciples were out in this storm for around 8 hours or more. 

Why is that significant?  Well, details we find about this story in the other gospels tell us where they were and where they were going, and the trip should have taken about an hour and a half.  We know the wind was against them, and the waves were rough, that would have added some time to the journey, but at eight hours, most likely what has happened at this point is that the sea was so rough, they would have just anchored and lashed the sails, in an effort to just stay upright and afloat until the storm passed.

A Picture of Life

And isn’t that just a picture of life sometimes.  There is so much that is beyond our control that it feels all we can do is try our best to hold on until whatever challenge or trial we are facing ends or goes away.  It can feel like it will never end.  And then we find ourselves desperately fighting through the darkest moments of our lives.  The passage says the boat was a long way from land.  There was no turning back, no quick escape, they had to endure, they had to outlast the wind and the waves.  But then an amazing thing happened.

The men in the boat look out into the darkness and see a man coming toward them, walking on the sea.  At first, they think it is a ghost, which in some ways if you think about it is just as reasonable a response as to suggest it was a man walking on water.  And then it says they cried out in fear when they saw Him.  The intensity of the storm should have been bad enough, but now, they are really scared.  Again, we look at those moments in our own lives where everything around us already seems to be crashing down, and then a new, unknown, or uncertain thing is introduced to the situation, and it can become the breaking point.

Take Heart

Recognizing their terror, Jesus calls out to them, “Take heart, it is I.  Do not be afraid.”  In chaos, we long for that comfort, don’t we?  To know that everything will be alright, that we don’t have to worry.  And yet, even in those moments when we see a glimpse of that peace, that comfort, we can doubt it is real, we can be wary of it, because we have struggled for so long against the darkness and the turmoil, that it seems like that is all we know.  Peter wants to believe that it is Jesus, he wants to believe this is real, but he needs proof, he needs evidence, so he calls out to Jesus.  “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 

Something Only the Lord can Provide

This isn’t a case of Peter “thrill-seeking” or wanting a once-in-a-lifetime experience on the sea.  This is Peter asking for something that only the Lord can provide.  A way through the trouble.  But there was a catch.  Peter had to let go of the only thing he had that gave him any sense of control over his situation, the boat.  Jesus seemed unphased by the storm, and that is only partially true. 

The reality was He was in control over the storm.  Next, we see Peter stepping out of the boat, and walking on the water toward Jesus.  Of course, that only lasted until Peter shifted his focus back to the troubles at hand, then he started sinking in the sea.  With nothing left he could do, Peter cries out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!”

Lord Save Me

And that is what this all really comes down to, Lord, save me.  God is not unphased by our struggles, and challenges.  God loves us, cares about us, and wants what is best for us.  He desires to give us everything we need, not just for now, but for eternity.  And it doesn’t matter if the pain we are going through right now is our own doing, or if it was completely outside of our control, God has given us a way through it all in Jesus Christ.  Even if you’re not going through a storm right now, God’s word tells us that all mankind is in danger because of sin. 

Sin is anything we do, say, or think that goes against God’s perfect nature, which means all of us have sinned because nobody is perfect like God is perfect.  Sin is rebellion against God, and because God is perfectly just, all sin must be dealt with, it must be punished.  The Bible tells us that punishment is death, not merely a physical death, but an eternal separation from God, the giver of all good things.  When we think of what the Bible says about God, this can get very bleak.  God is love, He is life, light, peace, goodness, truth, comfort; and so on, to be separated from God is to be separated from all of these things, forever.

Trials Are Temporary

Our earthly trials are temporary.  Yes, they hurt, we suffer because of them, but ultimately God uses them to get our attention, to cause us to focus on His Son, Jesus, who can bring us through any storm.  Jesus came and died on the cross to take the penalty for sin on our behalf, He rose again to prove He was the Son of God and therefore was qualified to take our punishment.  God’s promise is that if we believe in Jesus, acknowledge our sin, and turn from it to follow Jesus, then we will be saved.  We are like Peter being pulled from the waves and led to safety by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Going Through Trials

Now, I will acknowledge that not everyone listening to this is going through trials in their life.  Some of you are doing pretty well for yourselves.  Trust me, God is using this right now to get your attention.  At another point in Jesus’ life on earth, he encountered a rich man who was asking about eternal life.  He told that man to sell everything he owned and follow Him. 

This wasn’t because Jesus demands that sacrifice, but to prove a point that as Jesus would say,

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”  Matthew 19:23

Because sometimes a person can have such abundance from the physical world, that they become blind to the spiritual peril they are in if they don’t know and believe in Jesus Christ.  You don’t have to wait for trouble to come.  You can accept that all have sinned and are in need of salvation through faith in Jesus and believe in Him today.  The advantage to that is that when troubles come, and they will, you will have confidence that Jesus is already with you to help you get through it.

Life Doesn’t Become Perfect

I say troubles will come.  I wish I could say that the moment we believe in Jesus, life becomes perfect forever, but it doesn’t.  Oh, that day will come, when we get to heaven, but we still must get through this life first and it is not always going to be easy.  In fact, Jesus even warns us that following Him brings certain trials to our lives. 

Note the story we are looking at in Matthew.  Peter gets out of the boat, walks to Jesus, looks at the waves and starts to sink, cries out to Jesus to be saved, and is lifted out of the water.  When does the wind stop and the waves calm?  When Jesus gets into the boat.  That means that Peter is lifted out of the water, and then Jesus walks with Peter through the storm back to the boat.  Then the storm stopped.

Step Out in Faith and Follow Jesus

Life is hard, I get that.  Believing in God, and in Jesus can be difficult too, especially with all the noise in this world that tells us we don’t need God, that He’s obsolete, and irrelevant for today’s culture.  That’s a lie.  God is calling you right now to step out in faith and follow His Son, Jesus.  Let go of whatever it is you are clinging to for security, because there is no real safety in it.  Only Jesus can save you, only He can bring you safely through life’s trials and challenges, and only Jesus can bring you to that place of eternal peace and rest, that is with Him in heaven.

Do you think that there is anything God can’t do? Tell us what you think. We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.