“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”” Matthew 14:22-33 NKJV
I am a Florida girl through and through. As I get older it just becomes more pronounced. We don’t have seasons we just have hot. I love to pretend that I love fall but I don’t think I really know what that means. I love the warm(er) weather, not quite the 95° we have been having… but if it gets below 65° I’m done.
Something I’ve noticed especially the last few years is how much I love the water. I live about 20 minutes away from water, whether it’s beach, park, island, I can get there quick. Lately I’ve found myself headed to the water most days to sit and read my Bible, process, pray, or just be alone with Jesus. I’ve also found myself here for zoom meetings and FaceTime calls with friends. I’m telling you, I love the water. I don’t need to be in it, just near it, hearing the birds and waves, seeing the occasional dolphin. (I’m sorry if this is making you jealous but remember that I don’t have seasons or cool weather and there are bugs and reptiles everywhere. Maybe that will knock down the jealousy some haha!)
Why do I bring this up? Well, the other day I was here, by the water, and I just felt a stirring. There was something more that I needed to hear and receive from the Lord that He wanted to teach me and wanted me to recognize. As I processed this I wanted to share it with you. I hope it blesses you as it blessed me.
In the scripture at the beginning of this blog we see that first Jesus went alone to pray. He ministered to multitudes on either side of that water but before and after, He was alone to pray.
Do we get alone to pray? Do we spend intentional alone time meditating on Jesus, Scripture, and in His presence?
The disciples were afraid of the unknown, even though it was Jesus. They didn’t recognize Him. In John 6:15-21 it says how their hearts were hardened to the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000 just before this. They were distracted and bitter and didn’t recognize Jesus.
How many times have we gotten busy in the rush of how we think things should go, our expectations, work, life, ministry, and maybe we miss Jesus. Or an opportunity comes up that Jesus is calling us to and we don’t recognize it as Him because we are too distracted with our plans.
The water (in this passage of Scripture) was not calm. As I write this, I’m sitting by the water listening to the slow, gentle waves. That’s not how it was for them that night.
But in their concern, in their fear, Jesus immediately spoke to them, encouraged them, and spoke peace. Peter asked Jesus to command him to “come”. This reminds me of our command to go in Mark 16:15. But when it got windy Peter started focusing on the circumstances, not Jesus, and he started to sink. But immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him. But notice, before that, he called out to Jesus. He (Peter) didn’t try to handle it on his own or figure it out first by himself, no. He cried out to Jesus first.
Verse 32 says, “and when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.” They got in the boat together.
Abide.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4-5
Abide in Him because apart from Him we can do nothing. Oh the peace we would have if we didn’t forget this and try to do it on our own, if we didn’t get distracted.
It’s easy to say and write these things, but what about applying them to our lives? I think the biggest tool is just remembering this. When we catch ourselves getting distracted, worrying, not having peace… remember the waves, remember that He is your peace and He is with you.
Pray -> Abide -> Worship
Take some time to meditate on these scriptures and write down what the Lord is speaking. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you ways you might be getting distracted and surrender those to the Lord.