Good morning!

Greetings in the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Hebrews 11:1)
A large crowd of people followed Jesus.  It was a remote area, and Jesus saw the large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.    As evening approached, the disciples tried to send the crowd away.   Instead, Jesus asked to bring what they have – five loaves of bread and two fish.   Then He fed the large crowd of people.  They were satisfied, and the leftover and broken pieces only could fill twelve baskets.  There were about 5,000 men only.  Thus, it could be up to 20,000 or more people.
Immediately after this miracle, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, while he sent the people home.   After sending them home, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.  Night fell while he was there alone.
Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land.  The disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting against the heavy waves on the Sea of Galilee.  Some of them were skilled fishermen, but the particular wind was very difficult even for them.   The boat started getting water.  The situation was getting dire.   The harder they did, the stronger the wind and waves were.    They were all wet and exhausted.   A fear started getting in their hearts.   They looked around.  What they could see was a stormy sea with huge waves coming to their boat.   Thus, their struggle continued.   Now, it was almost dawn.   It was a really long and exhausting night.   There was no sign of ending of the storm.  The storm continued, and they were tossed by the strong wind and beaten by the waves.  
Suddenly, they saw something out there in a considerable distance.   It was moving toward them.  As getting closer to them, they fall on fear.  They cried out, “It’s a ghost.”   Immediately, they heard a voice, “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. It is I!” (Matthew 14:27)    It was the voice of Jesus.   They realized that it was not a ghost, but their Jesus, who was approaching to them by walking over the stormy water.  
Then, Peter called to Jesus, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”    “Come,” Jesus said. (Matthew 14:28-29)    As soon as Peter heard Jesus, he moved up to the bow of the boat, and his eyes were fixed on Jesus Christ.   The other disciples looked at Peter moving up to the bow.    They started saying, “What are you doing?”  “Are you out of mind?” “Are you really jump off this boat to the stormy lake?”  “You will die, please don’t jump off from this boat.”  “Although we are beaten all night by the strong wind and waves, this boat is still only way to save us from the storm.  You’d better hold tight this boat.”   “You are simply crazy.  Walking on water?”    Some of them grabbed Peter to prevent him from jumping off from the boat.  
Peter was completely determined.   He pushed away those who were grabbing him while ignoring all sayings told by the other disciples.   Peter’s eyes were fixed to Jesus.   In fact, he could not hear anything – the stormy wind and the crashing waves on the boat became silent before Jesus.  What he could hear was only one thing — the voice of Jesus: “Come.”  
As Peter reached he bow, he watched Jesus from the violently swaying boat on the stormy water.  Jesus was calm and in absolute peace standing on the stormy water.   As looking at the calm and peaceful Jesus, the same peace and calmness started flowing in Peter’s heart.    Soon Peter slowly but steadily lowered his right foot from the boat, while holding both of his hands on the boat.   His heart was calm, and his eyes were completely fixed on Jesus.   He shifted his body weight onto the right foot, as he lifted up and removed his left foot from the boat, while letting go his both hands from the boat.  He, then, straightened up his body as standing with both feet on the storm water.   Not like the stormy water being violently moving, Peter stood calmly and peacefully like Jesus.    Not all other disciples could believe what they saw.   Peter was standing on the water without holding the boat. 
Looking at Jesus, Peter started walking toward Jesus.  Jesus was lovingly watching over Peter, walking on the stormy water.    Peter’s heart was filled with the love of Jesus, and all other disciples were filled with awe.   Jesus, then, gently stretched His arms as Peter was getting closer to Jesus.  It was a beautiful moment.   Suddenly, there was a strong wind with a huge wave.    Not like other waves, it was much bigger and stronger.  Peter could not resist, and he turned his head to see the approaching huge wave.   Soon, fear found Peter, and he began to sink.   He cried out, “Lord, save me!”  

Immediately, Jesus stretched out his hand and caught Peter, who was sinking deep into the stormy water.  
“You of little faith,” Jesus said, “why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:33)  Jesus pulled out Peter from the water.  Peter was again safe with Jesus.    Then both Jesus and Peter climbed back into the boat, and the wind died down.   The disciples exclaimed, “You really are the Son of God!”, and they worshiped Jesus.
Peter had a faith and trusted in Jesus.   He stepped out of the boat without knowing what would really happen to him.   He believed one word of Jesus, “Come.”   He did not pay attention to all other’s sayings and opinions.   Instead, he just fixed his eyes on Jesus.   Then he jumped from the boat to the stormy water without a slightest doubt.   Then like Jess, he could be in calmness and in peace.    He walked on the stormy water with fixing his eyes on Jesus Christ.  But when he took off his eyes from Jesus to look at the things around him, he was sinking into the stormy water.    Only was Jesus who could save Peter.   Jesus stretched His hand and grabbed Peter rapidly sinking into the depth of the water.  
Jesus is our savior, and He is always with us, especially in the time of need.   Although we are in a life storm, we are safe and in peace with Jesus if we fix our eyes on Jesus Christ.    Yes, fixing eyes on Jesus always is not easy.    Sometimes we take off our eyes from Jesus to see the world around us, and then soon we find we are rapidly sinking into the depth of the stormy life again.    However, there is an absolute assurance to us — Jesus surely stretches out His hand, and grab us with His strong and loving hands as He did to Peter.   Jesus is our true friend.  He has been with us and surely will continue to be with us till we see Him face to face because He loves us.    Yes, Jesus loves us, and He is our True Friend in the time of need.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes:

<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>