Weekend, November 20, 2021
Courage or Fear?
“Then Peter called to him, ‘Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.’ ‘Yes, come,’ Jesus said” (Matthew 14:28-29 NLT).
Let’s give credit where credit is due. No one else volunteered to walk on water—not James, not John, and not any of the other disciples. But Peter did. So Jesus told him, “Yes, come” (Matthew 14:29 NLT).
What happened next? Matthew tells us that “Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he shouted” (verses 29–30 NLT).
Peter sank because he was afraid and because he took his eyes off Jesus. When fear reigns, faith is driven away. Fear and faith don’t hang out together. Either faith will be there, or fear will be there. But when one walks in, the other walks out.
Sometimes we’re doing well, and then we look at the wind and waves in our lives, and we begin to sink. We check our email or social media, or we turn on the news, and it causes our hearts to panic.
Peter began to sink because he took his eyes off Jesus. And when take our eyes off Jesus, we’re going to sink as well. When we forget God’s promises to us, we’ll start to sink.
But then Peter called out to Jesus, and He “immediately reached out and grabbed [Peter]. ‘You have so little faith,’ Jesus said. ‘Why did you doubt me?’” (verse 31 NLT).
In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I heard a doctor on the news say something that I’d never heard before: Courage uses the same pathways as fear.
When you’re facing the storms of life, you have a choice: either you can be afraid, which is easy, or you can be courageous while you keep your eyes on Jesus.
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