Today’s scripture: Matthew 14:22-33 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Brent Walsh):
The morning breeze was a bit stronger than we would have hoped for the first day of a garage sale. We were busy pulling tables out of the garage and loading them down with clothes, kitchenware and knickknacks. Our cat Friday was “helping”, inspecting everything that came out and trying to catch anything that blew in the wind. Straw hats, plastic bowls, blankets, and ball caps would go flying across the yard, and Julie would follow behind in a rush to block their progress.
I pulled a mattress set into the driveway and leaned it against a tree. When Friday saw the mattresses, she was delighted to discover it was a perfect scratching post! With ears back and brow furrowed, she sunk her claws deep into the fabric and scratched to her heart’s content — until I noticed what she was doing. “Friday, NO!” I exclaimed, running towards her with a lamp in my hand. When she saw me coming, she bolted up the side of the mattress and leapt onto the roof of the house to escape my rebuke. Once she realized I wasn’t going to ascend the mattress in pursuit, she slowed her pace and decided to just take a tour of this fascinating part of the house she had never seen before.
Friday stayed up there for about half an hour, walking up and down the various pitches of the roof, chasing birds, and exploring the intriguing contents of the gutters. When she eventually grew bored, she sat down at the edge of the roof and started meowing. There were four people setting up the sale in the driveway below, and we all looked up to see her crying to get down. She would walk a few paces, crouch down against the gutter, walk a few more paces and then turn around. I put down the box of stuffed animals I was holding and retrieved a ladder. I climbed up, and she ran over to me and let me cradle her under my arm.
Friday did just fine as I started to descend the ladder, but suddenly she panicked and all four feet produced razor-sharp claws that found purchase on my chest and shoulder. I bellowed and tried to pull her away with one arm as I clung to the ladder with the other, but I was no match for her fright! She squirmed and hissed as she fought to secure herself against me. When I finally made it to the bottom of the ladder, I released my grip and she catapulted from my arms. I expected her to hit the ground running and never look back, but to my surprise, as soon as she was on solid ground, she simply plopped down and started licking her paws as if nothing at all had happened!
In today’s passage, we see Peter in the boat realizing that Jesus is approaching them, walking on the water. He asks Jesus if he could join him on the water, and Jesus says, “Come.” Then the Bible says, “Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’”
Now we might be tempted to shake our heads and accuse Peter of not having enough faith, but just remember that he obviously had enough to get out of the boat in the first place! That’s nothing to be ashamed of! Maybe he’s not that different than you. You find yourself in the middle of your leap of faith, doing fine and getting excited about how things are progressing… and then you look down! You might not see anything different than what was there all along, but you realize where you are and you wonder how long you can be safe in that position.
Maybe it’s a new relationship. You open yourself up to the possibility, and you like where things are going so you muster up your courage and get out of the boat. It’s a miracle that you found such solid ground in a tumultuous sea of fickle relationships! You move forward in amazement and start to get comfortable in your new reality. And then, for reasons you can’t explain, you look around and start to worry. Are you too happy? Are things going too well? Is this too good to be true?
Or maybe it’s a new career path. You feel called into church ministry, so you enroll in seminary. Things are going well, you’re enjoying your classes, and you’re getting good grades. But then you take a class that challenges things you’ve believed all your life and you find yourself wondering what on earth you’ve done! Are you kidding yourself to think you could actually pull this off? How could you serve God if you’re questioning everything you believe?
Let’s just take a deep breath and try not to freak out. Try to summon the faith you had when you stepped out of the boat. Reach out for Jesus’ hand and allow him to calm your spirit. When you do, you’ll see that everything is going to be just fine.
Thought for the day: Maybe it’s not a “leap” of faith that will see us through, but rather, “steps” of faith, one after the other.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.