"The Bigger Lesson"

"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 14:27-29

 I know that this is usually about the next verse where Peter screwed up, took his eyes off Jesus and sank but for me it is about how Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water. He is the only person on the planet aside from Jesus to have such an experience.

Can you  imagine what it felt like. That moment when he heard Jesus respond and say, "Come."  His heart must have skipped a beat. The excitement, the anticipation he felt as he stepped out of the boat and his feet hit the water.  Or how about the awe he felt as he took step after step till he came within an arms reach of Jesus. It had to be an amazing thing, to walk on water and Peter did it!

The rest of the disciples were still in the boat while Peter was walking on water. He was the only one that got out of the boat.  I think that all too often we take the safety of the boat and we miss out on the 'cool God stuff'' or we don't even think to ask Jesus to, 'bid me to Come.'  They all heard Jesus say, "Its me, don't be afraid." They all heard Peter say, "If its you, tell me to come to You."  They all heard Him respond with the single word, "Come."  They all watched while Peter got out of the boat.  They all watched as he walked away from them on the water. They all watched while Peter was doing.

I think we need to focus on what Peter did right! He got out of the boat and he walked on water! When he started to sink his first response was to cry out to the right source for help, Jesus, not the disciples back in the boat.   He took the risk and He trusted Jesus. Then, when he got afraid, he turned to Him for help. 

I think the bigger lesson for us here isn't that he looked at the storm, got afraid and began to sink, after all, we all 'miss the mark' at times. I think the bigger lesson is that he dared to believe in the first place, and that as soon as he was in trouble, he turned to Jesus for help!