The Incredible Walk of Faith

Jesus had just received bad news. Someone told him that his cousin, John the Baptist, had been murdered by Herod. Jesus wanted to be alone to pray. But the crowds found him so he sacrificed his agenda to minister to them. He even miraculously fed them. Then, he sent his disciples on ahead and finally spent some time by himself. That's where our study begins, in Matthew 14: 22 - 33 (NIV):

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. 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!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Often, we are frightened when Jesus comes walking into our storms. But we needn't be. When Jesus arrives, that's the best thing ever, but often we are afraid because of our lack of understanding. True, you don't expect to see a man walking across a lake in the middle of the night, but the more we get to know Jesus, the more we realize that anything is possible with him.
Peter's reaction shows us his personality. He wanted in on the action. He wanted to walk on the water, too, and he became only the second person in history to do so. Remember, there was a storm blowing winds and waves, but Peter realized that it was better to be out in the danger with Jesus than in a safe spot without him. In Peter's incredible walk of faith, he did fine at first, then he began to think about where he was and what he was doing. That caused him to doubt and he began to sink. You think, you sink! In life's storms, don't look around at your circumstances, keep your eyes focused on Jesus. Peter realized he was going under and cried out the shortest prayer in the Bible.
At least Peter gave it a try. You must commend him for that. The other disciples weren't interested in leaving the boat. They weren't interested in leaving their comfort zone. How often do we miss out on seeing God work in our lives because it's outside our comfort zones? Sometimes you have to step out of the safety of the boat to take a real walk of faith. And if you do and get in over your head, just cry out to Jesus like Peter did. He'll save you.
There's one more point to this story that I don't want us to miss: Jesus accepted worship from the disciples at the end of this story. He didn't rebuke or correct them. Only God should be worshiped and Jesus was showing that he is God when he allowed them to worship him. Now, get out of your comfort zone and show the world that life is full of miracles for those who have faith in God.