
But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” He said. “Take courage. I am here.”
Then Peter called you him,”Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”. —Matthew 14:27-28
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Jesus calls Peter to have courage. Instead, Peter wants confidence of Jesus’ word. Peter’s response is a very human one that manifests our need to see, hear, and touch what we cannot.
Jesus understands our vulnerability in this area and He gives Peter, and us, this grace gift: access unto Himself when we doubt. Jesus doesn’t collect any demand for entry nor does He condemn our uneasiness. Our hesitation of belief is not a cancellation of His work of sanctification in storms. What Jesus wants us to assess: If you want assurance in storms….I’m all the insurance you will need.
Courage in Christ is not fastening a brave face or facing the storm independent of God. Courage is surrendering the storm and trusting Jesus won’t let you drown.
What Jesus doesn’t inquire of Peter subtly tells us what isn’t of spiritual priority to Him and shouldn’t be for us:
Jesus does not ask Peter to have certainty. Courage does not require certainty of circumstances. No need to be completely certain of what’s unclear in your life and storm to trust Jesus.
Jesus does not ask Peter to have control. Courage does not require being hands-on, holding all the strings in charge of your circumstances. No need to be in control of what’s uncontrollable in your sphere of influence and storm to trust Jesus.
Jesus does not ask Peter to conquer the conditions. Courage does not require our ability to quell and quash unfavorable parameters of our storm. No need to crush the perimeters of the wind and waves in order to trust Jesus through the storm.
We want to predict the certainty, possess the control, and pummel through the conditions of adverse storms we battle. Instead, Jesus calls us to think outside the box-boat paradigm: Tackle courage by trusting Jesus.
You don’t need to know the outcome to trust Jesus. You don’t need to know the outcome to overcome. Give the uncertainty, lack of control, and inclement hurdles over to Jesus. Let the decision to trust be greater than the inclination to doubt.