Matthew 14:22-33

22 Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. 23 After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. 24 Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. 25 About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” 27 But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” 28 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” 29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. 31 Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” 32 When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.

One of my favorite parts of this story is what happens next. While Peter took his eyes off Jesus and started to sink, he still knew who to call out to, verse 30 records his cry: “Lord, save me!” At least he had the good sense to call for help when he needed it, sadly some of us wait way too long to ask for God’s help. For some, it is pride that keeps us locked up in the prison of self-sufficiency, where we waste our lives on trying instead of investing them in trusting. Peter was not disqualified from a life of faithfulness just because he lost focus. The same is true for you; just because you have allowed your fears to paralyze you doesn’t me that you can’t cry out to Christ. Like Peter, you don’t have to be defined by your failure you can be defined by the Fathers forgiveness. Peter knew that no matter what he could always cry out to Christ, and it’s here that we see Jesus response to our crisis:

1. He rescues

Verse 31 says: “Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him.” Today some of you are drowning and you need to cry out to Jesus, only He has the power to reach out and rescue you. Who are you crying out to, are you going to lean on the Lord or drown in your independence? Sadly today many Christians spend more time turning to Facebook than they do God the Father. But technology isn’t going to save you, trusting in the truth is. Instead of posting your problems why don’t you try praying about them. Instead of turning to social media start talking to the Savior. Because Peter turned to Jesus he experienced not only the joy of walking on the waves by faith but also the joy of being lifted up out of his failure. When Peter couldn’t walk to Jesus, Jesus came to him.

2. He rebukes

Even though Jesus rescued Peter, He turned it into a teachable moment, in the last part of verse 31 He asks a revealing question: “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Jesus is continuously asking that question of His followers today. Why did you doubt? Why don’t you trust me to do what I said I would do? Are you in need of His rebuke today, is there an area in your life where you are struggling to trust Jesus and therefore not following by faith? While we don’t like being rebuked by Jesus we need to realize that He cares too much about us not to correct us. Many Christians make the mistake of assuming that because it doesn’t feel good it can’t be from the Father. So we run from His rebuke because we care more about God coddling our feelings than we do about Him cultivating our faith. But God is not in the business of growing your feelings, He wants to grow your faith. So stop trying to force Jesus into a box based on your feelings and start following Him based on faith. Receive His rebuke, repent and respond rightly so that you stop being foolish and start learning to follow by faith. While His rebuke may not feel very loving faith reminds us that the Lord loves us enough to rebuke us so that we are not left where we are, stuck repeating the same foolish mistakes over and over.

3. He restores

Jesus didn’t just rescue Peter so He could rebuke Peter, His ultimate plan was to restore. But often before we can be restored we have to be rebuked. Otherwise, we will never learn from our mistakes and it won’t be long before we return to the same issue that led to our drowning and crying out to Jesus. Jesus doesn’t just rescue us so that we can return to a life of desperation. His plan is to restore us and put us back onto His path. Christ’s plan for Peter was for him to be the rock on which Jesus would build His church. In order for that to become a reality, Peter had to learn to follow by faith and stop focusing on his fears. The truth is that because Peter was in a position to fail, he was also in a position to grow. I’m confident that he grew greatly in his faith as a result of this experience. It reminds me of the truth of 2 Timothy 2:13: “If we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself.” God wants to grow you. Unfortunately, many of us just want a God who will rescue but not rebuke us. But you can’t go from rescue to restore without being rebuked. Jesus loves you too much to let you run right back to rescue. So where are you at today, are you drowning in despair, then cry out for Christ to rescue you. If Christ is correcting you then don’t run from rebuke, receive it. If you are in the restore stage then respond rightly by learning to follow His plan, not yours.

Matthew 14:22-33
22 Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. 23 After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. 24 Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. 25 About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” 27 But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” 28 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” 29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. 31 Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” 32 When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed.
No only did Peter call out but second he:

2. Got out.
All Peter needed to hear was the word, “Come,” and he was out of the boat! Verse 29 tells us that he started to walk on the water and was coming toward Jesus. The miracle happened when Peter stepped out in obedient faith. Today we want to see the miracle before we step out. But let me remind you God calls us to move in faith first. When the Israelites were trapped between the red sea and the Egyptian army God told Moses to tell the people to move forward in faith then he parted the water before them and sent and Angel to provide protected behind them. When you are hemmed in by fear the only way forward is faith. When Joshua led God’s people into the Promised Land through the Jordan river while it was at flood stage, the river only stood still when the priests stepped into it by faith. Peter didn’t know if he would sink or float he just knew Jesus had called him and that’s all we really need. It takes courage to step out in obedience to Christ’s call, but when you are letting the call of Christ carry you faith will keep you afloat. Peter didn’t just walk on water he walked on waves. He went from being in the storm to on the storm. His fears were now below his feet. Do you feel that urge to experience something more than just sitting in the boat? When Christ calls its time to climb out. If you want to walk on the water, then you’ve got to get out of the boat! While Peter was walking on the waves the other 11 disciples were watching. What about you are you watching or walking? Today we want to watch in fear instead of walk by faith. Look if Jesus is calling you to step out onto the lake don’t just listen, leap. Peter didn’t just hear he heeded. What is God calling you to right now? Is He asking you to get out of the safety and security of your boat? While Peter was experiencing the joy and exhilaration of walking by faith, there were eleven guys who were controlled by their fear. In the battle between fear and faith, only one got out while the rest chose to cling to the boat. This is nothing new, we see the same thing in Numbers 13, when Moses sent the 12 spies into the Promised land to see God’s incredible provision for them. Out of the 12 only 2 came back focused on faith and filled with courage while the other 10 were focused on fear and acted like cowards. What about you are you going to live a courageous life or be a coward all your life? Are you going to cling to the boat or cling to Christs call? Right now in your life are you believing Christ or cling to the boat. There are a lot of reasons to stay in the boat, Fear, safety, its comfortable, guilt – some of you don’t feel good enough to get out of the boat and walk on water. But there is one reason to get out of the boat that trumps all the reasons to cling to your boat, Jesus is calling you. What voice are you going to listen to? The voice of fear or that of the Father. Why do we stay in the boat because we don’t believe. Look your man made boat may feel safe but it won’t save you. Don’t waste your life sitting in the boat when you could be walking with the Shepherd. Not only did Peter call out and step out but third he:
3. Cried out. `
Poor Peter takes it on the chin here and many preachers let him have it at this point. Instead of continuing to walk on water, he sees the wind and the waves and starts to sink. But before we get too tough on Peter, let’s remember that at least he got out of the boat. Look there are a lot of preachers pointing their finger at Peter while they are hiding behind their pulpits. Verse 30 reveals the reason that he sank, because he took his eyes off of Jesus and started focusing on the wind and the waves. Fear pushed out his faith. The only way that Peter was able to walk on the water was because of His faith in the faithfulness of Jesus. Once he took his focus off of the One who was faithful his faith faltered and he started to sink. The same is true of us, either we will focus on the Savior and follow by faith or we will focus on the storm and fall. If you are focused on the chaos instead of Christ you going to capsize. The wall builders did a similar thing in Nehemiah 4:10. They had started the rebuilding project full of faith and then they allowed their eyes to focus on the rubble. They became rubble-gazers instead of God-gazers. Like them we can focus on the junk or on Jesus. What are you focused on today, look there will always be waves and rocks. The real issue is are you are going to put your faith in the faithful one who made the mountains and the water? If you want to put your problems into perspective start focusing on the Savior, your storms wont shrink they will just seem small in light of how big He is.