Day #26
Larry Trotter
Words
of Love
29 He
said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to
Jesus. 30 But when he saw
the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out
his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did
you doubt?
Matthew 154:29-31 NIV
Overcoming the Barrier
These first warm
days and milder evenings hold the promise of the warm spring nights, ahead. Of
course, warm spring nights will give way to hot summer nights, which can be a
blessing and curse. A hot summer night is awesome when you’re at the beach and
you can take a barefoot walk in the moonlit surf with someone you love. But,
when it’s July and you’re upstairs at your granny’s house in the country where
air conditioning is something only city slickers enjoy, well, that’s a
different matter entirely. I remember spending time in the summer at my
granny’s house in Seymour. Sometimes there were several grandkids sharing beds
upstairs where all the heat from the hot July days collected and took until
daybreak to dissipate. For relief, my granny would set out an ancient
oscillating fan with a rusty wire guard over the blades. It made a lot more
noise than it moved air. Back and forth the fan would sweep across the room
ever so gently stirring the stiflingly heavy atmosphere. If you left the sheets
down you could feel just a breath of cool as the fan passed your way
accompanied by an annoying rattle as the guard came in contact with the stand.
The oscillating fan created a cycle of misery and relief that repeated itself
through the long, sweaty night.
The word translated
from the Greek as “doubt” in verse 31 is used only twice in the New Testament.
What is significant is that it does not suggest skepticism; in this case that
Peter didn’t believe Jesus could save him. It does, however, suggest—get ready
for it—oscillation, or that Peter was wavering in Jesus’ power to save him from
the waves. Peter was the first to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. In this same
passage he calls Jesus “Lord,” as opposed to, “teacher” or “rabbi,” underscoring
that Peter believed Jesus was God and had ultimate power, even over the angry
sea. The problem wasn’t believing
that Jesus could save him; the problem was remembering
that he could save him. Peter had just watched Jesus heal the sick, turn
sandwich fixins’ for 13 into dinner for 5,000, and walk across the lake. With
his eyes focused on Jesus, Peter was secure enough to get out of the boat and
walk toward him. But, as soon as the wind that had buffeted their boat ruffled
his beard, he forgot about Jesus’ power over the wind-swept water and
remembered that that same wind-swept water could drown him. Peter’s belief
oscillated between Jesus’ power and the wind’s power. Jesus’ half-brother,
James, would pick up on this theme in his five-chapter book found later in the New
Testament and would use a similar word to warn the early believers about being
double-minded, that is, oscillating between the world’s wisdom and the wisdom of
God. The world’s wisdom says the sea and the chaos it represents in Scripture
can take us under. God’s wisdom says that God is Lord over the sea and the
chaos in our lives. To be sure, it’s easier said than done. When the wind blows
up a storm in our lives, fear can become a barrier to remembering that God is
sovereign over every single square inch of the universe. But, if we can keep
our gaze firmly on Jesus through prayer, worship, fellowship, and our personal
devotional life we will see him in the waves and his presence will overcome the
fear that can sink us. The cycle of misery and relief becomes a sense of his
abiding presence that can make the longest night no sweat.
Prayer
God of calm and chaos, steady my oscillating
heart and steel my resolve to keep my focus on you and not the waves that
sometimes crash at my feet. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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