Faith

In the Gospel of Matthew, we are told of an incident on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus sent the disciples on ahead of Him in a boat while He finished His work with the crowd gathered there. To be clear, the disciples got in the boat and set sail. They didn’t wait at the dock. They just…left.

The Scripture continues that just before dawn Jesus went out to them walking on the water. The disciples who saw Him and did not recognize Him, were immediately terrified. Jesus calls out to them, reassuring them as to Who they were seeing. Peter, ever impetuous and bold, challenges that if indeed it is Him then, essentially, I want to do that too!

Peter gets out of the boat, and as every commentary on this passage will tell you, walks on the water until he takes his eyes off Jesus. Then he starts to sink and needs Jesus to rescue him. Jesus, of course, does and then utters one of the most misinterpreted and misapplied lines in the Scriptures: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Too often, people who are sinking are told they just need to have faith, and what they need or want will happen. First, this is just a cruel thing to say. Talk about blame shifting. Second, I’m not sure this hasn’t been badly focused. Is Jesus telling Peter that his lack of faith caused him to sink, or is He telling Peter not to doubt that Jesus could – and would – save him?

Our faith is to be in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. When we try to measure our faith by whether our prayers are answered according to what we prayed for, we will be disappointed. And we may come to doubt the goodness of God, the love of God, and perhaps even, the ability of the Triune God.

Jesus loses none of those He has been entrusted with, regardless of what happens to our physical bodies and our circumstances. Is He concerned with what happens to those? Of course. But I think primarily within the context of our souls and eternity.

We are always safe with Him. Even when we are afraid and uncertain.