Good Shepherd Lutheran

Get Out of the Boat – Matthew 14:22-33
When it comes to Peter walking on the water, I’ve often heard people condemn him for his lack of faith. True, Jesus does call him a man of little faith, but what about the other eleven who never even got out of the boat? If Peter had little faith, then they had none.
When it comes to trusting Jesus, what keeps us from getting out of the boat? Why do we fear trusting Him? It’s because we limit who we think He is and what we think He’s capable of. We don’t see Him as able to handle the tough stuff, so we stay in the boat and try to fix things ourselves.
So how can we see Jesus for who He really is? How can we move from just seeing Jesus as a great man, to seeing Him as the only one who can change our lives? The answer is, we have to spend time with Him in Bible study and especially in prayer. To know Jesus, we must spend time with Him.
When the storms of life come along, how long will we wait until we call on Jesus? How often do we try to think our way out of a problem and search for others who can get us out of a jam before we turn to Jesus? Why isn’t Jesus our first resort instead of our last during tough times?
Essentially, we doubt Jesus. We trust our own skills, our intellect, our money, our position, or our connections more than we do the Son of God. Not only that, when we finally break down and ask Jesus for help, we give Him a time limit. If He doesn’t handle our problem in our time frame, we assume that He’s not able to handle it, or He’s too busy, so, we just move on to something or someone else.
But even if Jesus doesn’t come when we want, or even do what we want, He does care, and He will help. Notice that the storms didn’t calm down until Jesus got into the boat. The whole experience with Peter walking on the water happened while the storm still raged. Sometimes Jesus doesn’t remove the problems of life. Instead, He shows up and walks with us through them.
That’s where trust and faith come in. Our life must be built on Jesus alone, not Jesus plus something or someone else. Once we realize that all we need is Jesus, we’ll trust Him. It won’t matter if the storms rage. All that will matter is that we have Jesus, and we know He won’t abandon us.
Whatever it is, the One who’s greater than our fears, our problems, and our doubts is waiting for us to believe in Him and risk it all. So come on. Step out of the boat and walk on the water. Jesus says you can do it. It’s time to get out of the boat!