And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” – Matthew 14:31
“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” This is the question that Jesus asked His disciple as Peter began to sink toward the bottom of the sea. Though Peter saw Jesus on the water and stepped out of the boat in faith, Peter began to doubt. Peter saw the boisterous winds and the massive waves and he was afraid. Why was Peter afraid? He was an eyewitness to many of Jesus’ miracles. Peter saw Jesus heal the lame, give speech to the mute, give sight to the blind, cast out demons, raise people from the dead, and he saw Jesus walking on the sea in the midst of a storm. Despite all of this, Peter still doubted. So, why did Peter doubt? I believe it was because Peter lost sight of Christ. Though Jesus was right there, Peter started to focus on the wind and the waves and forgot about Jesus. The one thing keeping Peter safe was the very thing he lost sight of.
Though it is extremely easy to criticize Peter for his lack of faith, I often find myself being just like him. Sometimes I find myself losing sight of Jesus and I forget that He has been with me every step of the way. Though Jesus has done so much for me in my own life, I find myself forgetting it so quickly. As an imperfect disciple, I will find myself praising Jesus one moment, and in the next breath beginning to express doubt. I have found that when I worry or doubt, I only make it worse. When we allow the wind and waves of life to consume our thoughts, our faith is hindered. When I find myself drowning in a sea of doubt, I hear Jesus asking me the very same question He asked Peter - “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Are you like Peter or myself? Do you ever allow doubt to overwhelm you? Are you allowing the cares and worries of the world to stifle your faith? Maybe it’s fear, anxiety, or depression. Whatever the case, we all are like Peter at times. We all fall short and allow our own limitations to overshadow God’s limitlessness. We focus on what we cannot do and forget what Jesus has already done. The good news, however, is that Jesus is still there. Even when we are sinking, Jesus is still there. When we find ourselves getting into trouble, we need to be like Peter and cry out, “Lord, save me!” And He will. Jesus will immediately stretch out His hand and catch us.
My prayer is that we will learn from Peter and our past failures. We need to remind ourselves daily to focus on Jesus and He will keep us from sinking. Jesus is enough. Though there may be storms or waves in life, Jesus is bigger - trust Him!
Tara says
WOW, that’s good. We all need to hear this right now.