What Are You Waiting For?

This story starts with the disciples on a boat in the middle of the lake, battling a ferocious night storm. Jesus wasn’t with them but He sees their distress and starts to walk towards them on the water. The disciples, thinking He was a ghost, scream in terror until they hear the comforting words of Jesus, ‘I am here! Don’t be afraid.’

Peter’s response was one of both doubt and faith. Doubt that it really was Jesus and faith that if it was him then He could make the impossible, possible. Peter was the one who raised the challenge, ‘Jesus, you tell me to come against all odds, against all rationale, against all that I know and understand to be true.’ Jesus simply responded, ‘Come.’

So Peter went. He went without hesitation, without thinking it through, without having a meeting with the other disciples to gain support, without praying about it, without question, without waiting for a better time. He went when he couldn’t see (it was dark). He went when the waves were high and ferocious. He went without the support of other people. Peter heard the voice of Jesus and responded immediately.

Some of us may be in that boat, having heard the voice of our Saviour commanding us to move. Yet our human mind prevents us from actually stepping out as we peer out into the darkness, seeing only high waves and an impossible task. Yet, beyond that is our Saviour, ready and waiting for us to move and He will be there if we lose faith and fall. Let’s not hesitate. Let’s move beyond our rational thinking and trust in the voice that simply commands us to ‘come’.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to have faith to move when You call me to move. Help me to look beyond the darkness and impossibility and see possibility in You and You alone. I choose to trust that You are there and will always be there, even if I fail. Amen.