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Love Lifted Me
By Chaplain Thomas Meade
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 14:24-33
A troubled time like many others throughout history leading up to today, we can witness from the Scriptures found in our text the results fear. Found within the New Testament the troubled times and dangers in the lives of Christ’s Disciples. Jesus walked on water, something that has never been seen before, not even today. Imagine the fear and then excitement when they realized it was Christ—wow, think of their a relief!
The Romans separated the night into four three-hour parts and the Jews had adopted these divisions. The fourth watch was the last part of the night between three and six in the morning. This was the last watch, the end of the night. We too need to be alert and watchful because our enemy, the Devil, lurks around to devour our souls as if a hungry roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8).
Peter was walking on water but was distracted by the surrounding dangerous winds and waves. These professional fishermen have been in many storms but not like this one, obviously. Peter had his eyes on Jesus and being surrounded by danger that peacefully left his mind but the thunderous uproar from the storm caught his eyes and he became terrified as he started sinking.
Fear is a powerful emotion that can paralyze us by confusing our thought process which could lead to weakening our faith and hope to being successful. Peter’s goal was to walk on the water to Christ, but it was short lived. Peter cried out, “Lord, save me!” Love (1 John 4:8) quickly reached down and saved Peter. The fear being used in the context is being troubled by possible failure and losing confidence and faith. I have been frightened and felt my faith fading and the only thing that truly helped was doing like Peter, calling out to the Lord in my earnestly praying for help. It is this chaplain’s hope and prayer that when fear comes raising its ugly head roaring to shake our faith remember to do like Peter by reaching out in faith to the One who reaches down save us and provides the way of escape to swiftly be back in the peace which goes beyond all understanding.
“We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not give up the hope of living. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
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