22 Immediately afterward He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
28 Peter responded and said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are truly God’s Son!”
It is easy to look around today and be overwhelmed by the storm raging around us.
Where can we find safe harbor?
Politics? Ravenous. Society? Splitting apart. Friends & Family? The World's me first attitude can make this impossible. The News? That's laughable.
In fact, for many of us, no matter where you turn for comfort, unless you are on the World's train, and truthfully, even if you are, there is no peace to be found anywhere. All you find, as far as the eye can see is trouble, depression, and drama.
It erodes you. It eats away at your spirit. It grinds you down emotionally, mentally, and physically.
You cannot sleep, sometimes you cannot eat; and the moments of happiness and mirth seem like an oasis rather than everyday life.
While it may not be as life endangering as Peter's encounter with walking on the water, it is none the less real.
I have sailed on the Sea of Galilee, and I will tell you, even though I am a decent swimmer, I have no desire to try to swim from the middle of that sea to the shoreline. Heck, I doubt I could. So I can understand how frightened the apostles must have been, they probably could not see the shoreline to know which was the shortest way to go.
Yet, when Jesus called for him to leave the boat, Peter does so, and keeps his eyes on Jesus.
This is not too distant from our own reality, metaphorically speaking.
Jesus has called us out of the boat called comfort and onto the water with Him. We took that plunge (literally) in our Baptism and now we are in the process of walking towards Him while the winds and storms of the World whip around us. I hope you did not expect the word "easy" to describe being a disciple, because if you did then someone did not explain this too you well enough. Deciding to follow Jesus is hard, as Peter shows us here.
In both cases, however, the same event leads to the same results.
Once Peter took his eyes off of Christ, he sunk, and had to be rescued.
Once we take our eyes off of Christ, the World swallows us in the depths of its darkness, irrelevance, selfishness, sell fulfillment, and purposeless existence.
Also in both cases, the cure is the same.
Call out to Jesus.
You see, that is the true beauty of daily prayer. When we call out to Jesus, when we cast all of our burdens on Him and allow Him to worry in our stead, we can find peace. Sometimes that peace is just knowing that this or that had to come to pass, but in the end it is still peace.
Peace is not something that the world is capable of giving. So if you are looking there, you are staring into a bottomless pit of self fulfillment which can never satisfy you.
Reset your eyes on the Savior. Call out to Him. ASK HIM SPECIFICALLY for peace, and for His spirit of comfort.
It may take time, it may take tears, but God will answer, for His desire is for us to be at peace, and to find His perfect and full Shalom.
Blessings to you today!
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