Thank God for Peter!

Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. "You of little faith," He said, "why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:31 I guess I have read the story about Jesus walking on the water 100 times from my childhood up until now. But tonight, God has revealed things to me about this passage that I have never noticed before. I am excited to share them with you... One dark and stormy night, the disciples decide to go fishing and Jesus goes to pray. The Bible says that during the fourth watch (about 3:00 a.m.), Jesus goes out to them and tells them not to be afraid. I'm sure all of the disciples were nervous about this figure walking out toward them! But Peter decides that even in his fear, he will call out to Jesus. I think that sometimes, because of pride or fear, I fail to call out to my Lord for help. Yes Peter was impulsive, but he was the only one who tried to get to Jesus. Jesus then tells Peter to come to Him. Peter does well while he's walking on the water and looking toward Jesus. But the moment...the very instant Peter takes his eyes of Christ, he begins to sink and panic. And then, the best part of the story happens: Jesus immediately reached out His hand to help Peter. After all the times I had read that story, I had never noticed the word 'immediately'. Jesus immediately came to Peter's rescue. Why? Because that's who He is. How ashamed I feel for the countless times I have worried that God-Jehovah-is going to forget me or not help me in time! But I realized something else. Peter had to be close to Jesus in order for Jesus to reach out his hand to help him. That to, is often our problem. We want immediate help or God's outstretched hand when we are so very far away from that hand to begin with. Out of the 12 disciples, the one that was always sticking his foot in his mouth, always acting impulsively and saying the right thing at the wrong time, the one who Jesus seemed to always be correcting, is none other than Peter. In the beginning, we find that Jesus changed the name of this famous apostle from Simeon to Peter. Ironically, Peter means "Rock". It seems hard for us to grasp why Jesus would give this great name which meant 'stability' or 'strength' to a man that proved to be the very opposite. But if we look deeper, we find a man who had a passionate love for Christ. Peter was the only one willing to get out of the boat and even try. Peter was always the spokesperson for the disciples and he asked alot of questions. But Peter got to know Jesus. I believe God lets us glimpse into the life of Peter because He wants us to see that we are going to make bad decisions, say the wrong things, and act before we think. But God also shows us a man that was transformed by a relationship with Christ who eventually fit the very name Jesus gave him--Rock. Jesus knew, even when no one else could see, that Peter loved Him. Jesus knew that He had left an impression on the heart of Peter and that Peter would be who He would 'build his church upon'. I thank God for letting me read about Peter's life and transformation. It makes me ask myself the question of 'can God build his church upon me?' Is the relationship that I have with Christ as passionate or as impressionable as Jesus and Peter's? I hope that it will be. As I said, I have learned many things from this passage. But the one thing I have learned that I will always remember is that I must stay close to God. For as long as I keep my eyes on Jesus, I will not be afraid to walk out onto the dangerous waters... Love, Corrie My prayer for today: Lord, praise you for allowing me to see how you want my relationship with you to be. Help me to never take my eyes off you when you call me to come to you. My trust grows for you every day. I also thank you for allowing me to see myself in Peter. Thank you for taking my failures and teaching me how to love you more...