249: Walking on Water

In your darkest hour, know that Jesus has not abandoned you. Whatever the storm is, the answer is to see Jesus walking on top of it…

“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. “(Matthew 14:22-24)¹

Life can be like that. We can feel tossed by the waves with circumstances that seem beyond our control. Sickness, debt, and relational difficulties can make us feel like we’re going down, and the waves are overcoming us. Whatever the storm is, I believe with all my heart that the answer is to see Jesus walking on top of it.

“Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.” (Matthew 14:25)

The fourth watch was the last watch just before dawn. You know the old saying: “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” I don’t know if that is literally true, but I know from experience that breakthrough often comes when everything in the natural goes against the promises of God in my heart. What I have learned is this: in my darkest hour, Jesus still has not abandoned me.

“And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!; And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! 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.’ So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.” (Matthew 14:26-29)

When Jesus said, “It is I,” He literally said, “to be.”² In other words, “You don’t need to be afraid. I exist, and if I exist, I can walk on these waves. Nothing is impossible for Me.” Peter wanted to believe it, but he had to throw out reason to do that. When Jesus told him to come, he came! Peter literally walked on the water as his eyes were fixed on the Author and Perfecter of faith.

Peter looked at Jesus, and he became like Jesus. It’s the same for us!

“But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid,…”” (Matthew 14:30)

Peter took his eyes off Jesus. He looked at the circumstances, and fell from the supernatural into fleshly reasoning. Think about it this way: he fell from GRACE (receiving the undeserved favor of God) to LAW (believing that he was limited to the flesh).

Here’s another question to ponder. What in the world does walking on water have to do with whether there are waves or not? If the water was perfectly peaceful without a ripple, can a person walk on it? Faith is drawing from something unseen and believing that nothing is impossible.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Sometimes we have faith, but our unbelief comes and clouds it. When we look at Jesus, we have faith. When we take our eyes off of Him, we still believe He’s there, but we begin to believe that the storm is bigger than He is. Unbelief rises up like waves that obstruct our view of Him.

“…and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!; And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘TRULY YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD.’” (Matthew 14:30-33)

Let this cause a joy explosion in your heart:

Truly, Jesus is the Son of God.

Truly, He has made you perfect and has come to make His home in you.

Truly, as He is so are you in this world.³

My friend, turn your eyes upon Jesus. Let peace reign in your hearts through faith, and may everything around you become dim in the light of His glory and grace!

(from pages 360-361 and 363-364 of Unveiling Jesus)

Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!

Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.

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¹All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.  Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.  Used by permission.
²G1510 (eimi), Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G1510&t=KJV, accessed 6-12-14
³1 John 4:17