Matthew 14:27-31 “But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying “Take courage, it is I do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come”. And Peter got out of the boat and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became afraid and beginning to sink cried out, saying, “Lord save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said to him, “O, you of little faith, why did you doubt Me?” When we are in crisis, facing all kinds of hardships and see no end in sight, we can call out to the One who is in control. The disciples had just witnessed the miracle of feeding more than 5000 people with five loaves and two fish. Jesus made the disciples get into a boat to meet Him on the other side while He sent the multitudes away. After He sent the multitudes away, Jesus went up to the mountain to pray. Now the disciples were already about 600 feet away from the land and were being battered by the waves and wind. Then Jesus came to them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him, they thought it was a ghost and cried out in fear. “But immediately, Jesus spoke saying “Take courage it is I, do not be afraid.’” The disciples followed Jesus’s instructions to meet Him on the other side. The water wasn’t calm, there wasn’t any smooth sailing. In fact, the water was battering them, the winds were contrary, and it was dark. The scripture says it was the fourth part of the night which is around 3a-6a when Jesus came to them. I imagine the disciples were struggling to stay afloat when they saw Jesus coming toward them. They at first thought it was a ghost, which didn’t seem like a rescue. Even when Jesus spoke telling them, “It is I, do not be afraid”, Peter questioned Him saying, if it is You, command me to come onto the water. And Jesus said “Come!”. Peter gets out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. Now, this in and of itself was a miracle, walking on water. But what does Peter do, he looked around seeing the wind and became afraid and started to sink, saying “Lord, save me!” And immediately, Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said, “O, you of little faith, why did you doubt?” What needs to be noted here is that the disciples followed Jesus’s instruction to get into the boat and meet Him on the other side. But it wasn’t smooth sailing. Another thought to consider is that “while” the storm was raging, Jesus was there. He told them do not be afraid, it is I. We sometimes think, when we are in the midst of life’s storms, if Jesus is there. Does He see our struggle? When Peter said to Jesus if it is You, Jesus said “Come!” The storm was still going on. Peter got out of the boat. He was walking on the water in the storm toward Jesus. When he took his eyes off of Jesus to look around, the storm was still there, and he began to sink. When we are in the midst of storms, Jesus is right there. Ready to rescue us, ready to save us from the situation. When Jesus stretched out His hand to Peter and asked him “Why did you doubt, Me?”, I wonder how Peter felt holding onto Jesus. Did he feel safe? Was he no longer afraid? Another important thing to take away from these scriptures is that Jesus was holding onto Peter and until they got into the boat, the winds didn’t stop. Jesus is there when we cry out to Him. We need to understand that is during our storms, He is there. Jesus lets us know it is Him we need to trust. That, He is in control. When we take our eyes off of Jesus and look around at the storm we will begin to sink. The scripture is telling us while we are in the storms, have faith that He is the one who calms the storm. John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled nor let it be fearful.”