Don’t you love the account of Peter walking on water? If you’ve never read it, it’s worth taking a minute to read the full account. It’s found in Matthew 14:22-33. But here’s the nutshell:

Matthew 14:29-32 “Come,” (Jesus) 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.

If you’ve been a Christian for a few years, I’ll bet you’ve heard one or more messages preached using Peter’s failure on the water as an example of what not to do. He panicked and began to sink. If He’d focused on Jesus rather than the storm, if he had continued to believe, he could have kept on walking. Don’t be like Peter! Keep your eyes on Jesus. Otherwise, you’ll sink too! End of sermon! 

That is indeed a message we need to hear, but I think there’s also another. We’ve focused so much on Peter’s slowly going down that we’ve never thought about his staying up! 

I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard someone describe a time when they were sure they were going to drown by saying “I began to sink!” There’s a reason for that. Boats can begin to sink if they take on water, but living, breathing people don’t “take on water”. If I took a step off the edge of a pool, I would neither begin to take on water, nor “begin to sink”—I would go straight to the bottom! 

Peter would have too, if everything had depended on his faith. Jesus said it just takes a little faith. Peter had that and more when he stepped out of the boat. But he lost most of it when he saw the tumultuous waves. He didn’t begin to take on water, he began to take on fear. He had just enough faith left to cry out to the One who could rescue him. 

When fear replaced his faith, Peter panicked, but he didn’t go under! Artists who have painted pictures of this scene always show Peter still upright. I think that’s accurate. (After all, he’d just been walking!) As panic pushed faith aside, Peter’s feet went under the water, then his shins, then his knees, next his waist, and so on. We don’t know just how much of him “sunk”, but clearly Matthew penned the absolute truth when he recorded that Peter was “beginning to sink”. 

Here’s what I’m pondering. If everything depended on Peter’s faith, why didn’t he plummet to the bottom? I believe it’s because of the One who had called him to come out of the boat in the first place. The Savior saved Peter. Matthew said that “Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. But consider how the nanoseconds making up that “immediately” may have played out in the slo-mo, life-passing-before-his-eyes account happening in Peter’s mind as Jesus reached out His hand? 

I picture Jesus, raising His hand to reach out, silently telling the angels to buoy Peter up! Jesus was in charge, and he wasn’t going to let his precious disciple go under. In fact, I picture Jesus being laser focused on Peter, His own faith engaged in order to keep his terrified friend’s head and torso above water. 

I can imagine that in that split second before Jesus took his hand, that Holy Spirit may have drawn Peter’s thoughts away from his own panic long enough to perceive, even for one second, that something was holding him up! I can see Peter locking eyes with Jesus and being flooded with gratefulness as he realized the force pulling him down was no match for the the power of God that was buoying him up! And in the movie that is playing out on the big screen of my mind, it is just in that moment, as that awe-filled awareness of God’s strong hand dawned on Peter, that Jesus’ hand grasped his and helped him back into the boat. 

Fear had swept aside his faith, but Jesus’ authority over the waves had not failed him! Yes, he had “begun to sink”, but the fear that pulled him down couldn’t be overpowered by His Savior’s love buoying him up! What a Savior! Such a glorious Savior!

Lord, how many times have I allowed the enemy to chastise me for the very thing he brought? How often have I allowed him to use the results of my own lack of faith to shame me and label me “Not Useful to God’s Kingdom”. Forgive me for focusing on circumstances and allowing them to make me feel like I’m beginning to sink! Lord, I need You to always refocus my thoughts on how You are working on my behalf—to buoy me up even when I feel inadequate. Thank You that You are my Sustainer! Jesus, You’re my buoy! I’m so very grateful to You for that!