Matthew 14:27-31
Faith and Doubt
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
James 1:2-6
Faith and Doubt
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
When Our Faith is Small and Weak
20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
John 16:33
We Will Have Troubles in This World
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Jesus Would Have Peter Build His Church
18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
John 17:3
Jesus on Eternal Life
3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
John 14:1-3
Peter and the Disciples are in Heaven with Jesus
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Faith sometimes takes courage...Faith also takes risks...Peter sees His LORD and Teacher walking on water...Peter says, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to You on the water.”...His LORD says, “Come.”...Seeing His LORD and having faith, Peter tries to walk on water...Then doubt hits Peter...He starts to sink...His faith starts to fail him...Doubt has now firmly set in and he is sinking...And doubt can and does hit us at different times...Needing His LORD's help, he asks for help, and Jesus reaches His hand out and catches Peter and saves him from sinking and maybe drowning...
Was it zeal or faith, when Peter tries to walk on water?...Peter's personality is one of full of zeal, rashness, a shoot from the hip type guy, he takes risks, and an eagerness to please his LORD...When Peter left the boat, he thought he was full of faith...Peter is willing to take the risk to walk on water, while the other disciples watch...His strong faith when he leaves the boat, lets doubt get in the way...Peter learns over time something about himself (and his personality), and much about his faith...His faith was not as strong as he thought...His doubts let him down...And he learned the LORD is there to save him, even with his doubts...His LORD is always there for Him...His LORD was standing, albeit on the water, right there...
But even those not of so strong a faith want to see miracles...It would have been a miracle for Peter to walk on water...And when our faith is weak, and we doubt we might think and ask for a miracle and more than one...Even a strong faith can get thrown by doubt, but it bounces back...A weak faith is more likely to be searching for miracles and signs from the LORD...And this is not bad because a little faith and weak faith can do a lot...A little faith can move mountains...But those of no faith, do not even take these faith risks...Even as Peter and other believers take Jesus at His word, we can fail, because of doubt...And then we can see, we have a little less faith than we originally thought...We can learn things about ourselves, when we examine our personal faith...Because Jesus completely exposes us for who we are...Jesus shows us who we are, because He is always near (us)...
Jesus gives us eternal life...When we believe in the only true God and believe in His Son -we have eternal life...Peter had a thrilling life and adventure on earth...And when he met Jesus, he believed in Him and His Father and is now in God's house, in one of the many rooms that was prepared for and uniquely for him...
Jesus wants us to believe in Him, His word, and His teachings...This, as Peter found out, and a lesson most believers learn by experience, is that our faith can be strong at one minute and then is not so strong the next minute, or the next day...Jesus understands this...He is there willing to help the one who would start and build His church, a hand...And He is there to always give us His hand, when our faith weakens and we need His help...Jesus is our Savior, and He literally saves Peter (from drowning)...
And one last thing I would like to mention is about St. Peter's personality...He had the innate ability to bounce back from his doubts and his times of weak faith...St. Peter's faith has this great resiliency... He is able to recover from a failure, or a negative, or a lapse in faith very quickly...And that is a very important lesson for us to learn...When our faith takes on doubt, and we are being thrown about like a wave being blown on the sea, it is important we realize this -and get back on track, and get back to Jesus and our Bible, and our faith...St. Peter has learned that when there are troubles in this world, he can depend on Jesus...It is a lesson, sooner or later (and for me it was later), all His followers must learn...Let us bounce back from our troubles and adversities (and times when we have little faith) quickly by reaching out our hand for Jesus and His help...