He had commanded them to take a boat and to meet Him at the other end of the lake. It was late at night already, isn’t it dangerous to take the boat out at the middle of the night like this? One of them looked up in the sky “it’s gonna rain soon… what is the Master thinking” he must have practically thought in his mind. And yet they obeyed their Master and went out in the boat.
From a distance he watch them. He knew what were in their hearts. He could hear their doubts, their confusion, their perplexity. He could hear their worries and their concerns. He could sense their apprehension and their fear. He too looked up in the sky. Dark clouds were coming. He knew what was ahead of them. He did nothing. He just continued to watch…
The dark clouds soon turned into rain. With it came howling winds which pushed the currents of the water. Waves began forming and soon. the boat was out of control. All 12 of them were terrified. Even though they were men of the seas, experts in their own trades, having braved though many stormy weathers in the past, this one in particular frightened them. “I knew this was a bad bad idea!!” exclaimed the one earlier who was looking up at the dark clouds and weighing in on the Master’s decision to make them take the boat. Wouldn’t it have been more practical to walk by the shore and stay dry in the mainland?
The doubting apostle’s thoughts came back to the boat. He too was becoming worried. Looking around his other 11 companions didn’t help. All of them were terrified. ‘This was a BAD idea’ was all he could think of. ‘I should have done something about it’ he thought in his heart as he and the rest tried their best to steady themselves in the boat amidst the rough seas.
The Master knew this was the time to react. He studied their hearts again. What were they thinking? As he scanned through their hearts, he saw more fear, more worry, more anxiety. They were terrified. And he caught some of them thinking “where is the Master? Why has he abandoned us?” He knew he had to react now. And so he made that step on the water.
“Its a ghost!” they shirked when they saw a white figure walking towards them. They would have probably heard such tales during their fisherman carers. Superstitious tales of not staying out late at night fishing or being near water in the middle of the night. They were terrified. It was bad enough the storm was rough, now a ghost?
“Do not fear, for it is I” the Master assures them. He knew what they were thinking. He knew how scared they were. And he also knew they needed hope to get by this storm.
“If it’s you Master, let me come to you!” cried out the Leader of the 12. ‘ARE YOU CRAZY’ remarked one of them. ‘Don’t be a hero man’ the doubting apostle thought. ‘Its bad enough we are out here, and there’s a ghost in front, and now our Leader is gonna get himself killed?’ he continued thinking. Then panic ensued. “QUICK, SOMEONE GET PETROS BACK!”
But Petros, taking that leap of faith, defining the impossible, at his Master’s invitation began walking towards Him. Mind body and soul focused on his Master. He could probably feel the icy waters brushing against his heel and the chilly winds freezing his body. He tried to focus on his Master but within a matter of just seconds having made just 8 steps, he began to lose his balance. The winds were too strong, the waters too violent, the sky too dark. He was sinking. First the waters reached his ankles, then slowly the waters began to reach his naval. He was sinking…fast! LORD HELP ME!
At once the hand came and courageously pulled out PETROS out of the water. “Oh ye of little faith, why did you doubt me?” the Master asked Petros aloud as he pulled him back to the boat. Petros, having witnessed the glory and splendour and power of God was dumbfounded.
Why did he doubt? Had he not seen miracles that his Master performed? Had his Master not healed so many people around him, including his own relative? Or was it because, Petros, having seen all of these miracles, just could not fully and completely trust his Master?
