From his boat in the storm Peter immediately recognises Jesus as the one who saves and so jumps out into the sea to reach Him, but when faced with the gale Peter’s faith falters, he looks down at his feet and begins to sink - but he does not drown. Peter then calls out to the Lord with renewed faith and is saved. Even though overcome by doubt Peter realises no one else could help him and so is moved to a stronger faith. There are lessons here for us all.
Jesus approached the disciples during the darkest and loneliest part of the night during weather conditions which are beyond their control. The small boat is like each of us, struggling to navigate a safe passage through life’s storm. Jesus seems removed, looking in from the outside; He is not in the boat with us. We need to bring Him into our boat, into our darkness where His loving care can penetrate our physical world and overcome life’s storms. Peter’s mistake was that he wanted to walk across to Jesus rather than bring Him into the boat. We need to talk to Jesus directly, straight from our hearts and say exactly what we feel so He may enter and calm the storm inside us. When the Lord gets into my boat, my life, I feel a sense of peace, the darkness brightens and the wind dies down.
