The most common people think this story is solely about Peter. People will say, “Look at Peter’s faith, or lack of faith and look at what we can learn from Peter.” This is a story about a God that didn’t take his eyes off of Peter when Peter took his eyes off of Jesus. Jesus commands Peter to come to him so he comes but in a moment he starts to sink. What made Peter afraid? He took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the storm and at that moment he started to sink. Peter doubted Jesus by taking his focus off of the one who could save him and putting it on the circumstances around him. He lost hope in Jesus’ ability to save, but Jesus remained faithful even when Peter wasn’t. So look to Jesus! When things get really difficult you don’t need to just try harder, you need to look to Jesus!
The climax of the story is not when Peter walks on water but when Jesus saves Peter despite his lack of faith. If you are in the midst of a difficult time I
want to show you one other thing that this story teaches us about the character of God. Have you ever noticed that when Peter calls out to Jesus to
save him he doesn’t just like beam him back up to the top of the water but in the most intimate way it says that Jesus reached out his hand and took hold of him. The God of the universe who created everything including the storms and seas could have chosen any way to save Peter and he chooses
to come to him and touch him. Don’t miss the parallel here: when you cry out to him in the midst of your suffering he can reach out his hand to you and grab you! Serving a God like this gives you incredible confidence in the midst of the storm. Ordinary uneducated men like the disciples changed the course of human history because they realized that there is incredible power in the grace of God. Jesus is faithful even when we are faithless.
Fr.Joseph Dovari