Walking On Water

Matthew 14:28-29, “And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.”
We have all hear the story about Peter walking on the water to go to Jesus. We all know about the bad press he got as he began to sink in the rough seas as he took his eyes of Jesus. Yet this is a story as much about faith as about unbelief. Let’s look at what happened. Look close at this story, first Peter did not get out of the boat until Jesus bid him come. Some may think this is a small detail but it is critical to what was about to happen. Only God knows the number of His children who are trying to do the impossible without Him bidding them to come. If Peter had jumped out of the boat and tried to walk to meet Jesus when he first saw the Lord coming to them he would have not been successful. Peter made his living on the water and he knew walking on the sea was not something he could do. We all look to Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” With Christ at our center and through His power we can do all things. It is true God can do the impossible and can use us to do that impossible task. While it is true all things are possible with God—even what is impossible for us—we can’t expect to walk on water unless God has invited us to do so. We cannot expect to do the impossible unless the impossible is what God is calling us to do.
Notice something else about this story. Peter was the only one who got out of the boat. All the others had also been with Jesus and knew who He was why did they not also get out of the boat? Probably because none other than Peter even dreamed they could walk on the water. Peter, at that time felt he could do anything with Jesus’ help. Could the others in the boat have done what Peter did? Yes if Jesus had said to them come to me. Was it because their faith was lacking and Peter’s was great? No. Was Peter a glory hound? No again. None were called to do what Peter was asked to do. None needed the lesson Peter needed. God knew what Peter was to do and He also knew we could all learn from Peter’s lesson.
There is more to this story that many times gets overlooked. Yes Peter learned a crucial lesson by walking on the water to go to Jesus, but only he was bid to come to Jesus. Jesus did not say everyone come on out here. Why did Peter get out of the boat? To go to Jesus, not to gain note rarity, special power or special favor with Jesus. The reason he got out of the boat was to go to Jesus. There is no lesser goal. The lesson missed most often is not his failing belief it is that if we seek to overcome insurmountable problems out of any motivation other than drawing closer to Jesus will always meet with failure. Remember Jesus said, “Come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you rest.” When Christ bids us to draw near we need to get out of the boat and go to Him. Keeping our eyes on Jesus we can walk on water. Nothing can sink us, no wave can drown us but we still have to have the goal to go to Jesus.