“And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'” Matthew 14:31
Dear Ones:
We all have our limits, and we are all faced with the age-old issue of believing God a “little.” Why is it, that the object of our faith, the Eternal God, Christ, Creator and Redeemer, is not trusted in the way, and in the measure, that He worthy to be so? The answer certainly is found in Jesus’ question to Peter: “WHY did you doubt,” as “little faith,” is associated with doubt.
Matthew recounts to us the story of Jesus sending his disciples away in a boat to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus did so for several reasons. First, he needed to send the “multitudes” away, to return to their homes. Secondly, He needed to be alone with His Father, and have time to pray. Thirdly, the disciples needed to learn a very important lesson on faith.
We find the disciples in a boat, without Jesus being physically present, being thrashed about by the wind and the waves. It was between 3 and 6 in the morning when They would perceive “a spirit” walking on the sea, not knowing that it was Jesus. Of course, they were very fearful. Jesus would identify Himself, and tell them not to be afraid. It is at this point that Peter asks Jesus to “…bid me come unto Thee on the water.” (Matt. 14:28) Peter would get out of the boat, and begin to walk on the water to go to Jesus. All was going well, and the miracle of the experience of the power of Christ to walk on water, was realized by Peter. However, Peter’s attitude began to change from that of faith to fear. Why? First, we need to ask ourselves, “What was Peter’s attitude towards Christ when he was IN the boat, especially after He learned that it was the Lord Jesus who was walking on the water? No doubt, it was one of total trust, especially because Peter believed in the certainty of the power and love of Christ. However, when walking on the water, we find that Peter’s gaze turned away from Jesus as the Sovereign Lord, to look at the wind’s effects on the waves. His attitude changed. As long as his vision of Christ was that of His glorious majesty, and sovereign power over the wind and waves, faith would enable him to walk on water. The moment that the attitude of faith changed to fear, the power was no longer operative in and for him, and he began to sink into the waves. We come just briefly back to the question: “WHY did you doubt?” He did so because of his vision…Christ became smaller, and the waves became larger.
Dear Father, teach us the importance of truly worshipping Thee in the aloneness, according to the truth of Thy word, and yet, by the Spirit. Give to us that blessed Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Your Son, so that our vision will be truly one of the greatness of His power, and the unchangeableness of Your love. Grant us a crystal clear vision of Who and What Thou art. Then the Object of our faith will be a greater reality to us than faith’s obstacles. “Little faith” will be then be exchanged with “great faith,” because of the vision of Your greatness and power. We thank Thee in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad