Eyes Off the Wind

It was the fourth watch of the night, somewhere between three and six in the morning. The disciples had been fighting the wind and waves for hours. Their arms ached. Their clothes were soaked. And then they saw a figure walking toward them on top of the sea. “It's a ghost!” they cried. Grown fishermen screamed in the dark.

Jesus spoke up at once. “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid.” He did not make them wait. He did not let them sit in terror while He explained Himself. He gave them His presence first. Before you get answers, you get Him. That is still how He works.

Then Peter does something wild. “Lord, if it is You,” he says, “command me to come to You on the water.” I like Peter. He is impulsive and loud and sometimes wrong, but he wants to be where Jesus is. And Jesus gives him one word. “Come.” So Peter climbs over the side of the boat and puts his foot on the water. And it holds. He walks on the sea toward Jesus.

Here is the turn. “But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid.” The wind had not changed. It had been blowing the whole time. The waves were just as high when he stepped out as when he started to sink. What changed was where Peter was looking. He took his eyes off the Lord and put them on the storm.

You know exactly what that feels like. You step out in obedience. You take the job, have the hard conversation, make the commitment, trust God with the money. For a while you are walking on water. And then you look at the wind. The bills. The test results. The headlines. The comments people made. And you start to go down.

Peter does the one thing a sinking man should do. He cries out, “Lord, save me!” That is one of the best prayers in the Bible. Three words. No fancy language. No bargaining. And the text says, “Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and took hold of Peter.” Immediately. He did not let Peter drown to teach him a lesson. He grabbed him. Then came the question. “You of little faith,” He said, “why did you doubt?” Notice that He asks it while He is holding him. The correction comes inside the rescue.

Some of you are sinking this morning. Maybe you stepped out in faith and now you are wondering why you ever left the boat. Hear this. The same Jesus who called you out is close enough to catch you. Your faith may be little, but your Savior is not. The power was never in Peter's legs. It was in the word of Jesus and the hand of Jesus. That same hand would later be nailed to a cross for doubters and sinkers like us, and then raised to life.

The story ends with worship. When they climbed back in the boat, the wind died down, and the men said, “Truly You are the Son of God!” That is where every storm is meant to lead you. Not just to relief, but to Jesus. So today, when the wind howls, look at Him. And if you start to sink, do not be too proud to pray Peter's prayer. He has never once failed to hear it. You may get wet. You may get scared. But you will not go under while His hand is on you.