I AM NOT ALONE

So the whole reason I started studying Matthew 14 was because I was feeling overwhelmed by what God had called me to do, and He placed it on my heart to study Peter and Jesus walking on the water. In order to understand the whole picture of this story, I studied the whole chapter of Matthew 14. And now we are finally here! WOOHOO!


So Jesus has been trying to get time alone to be with Father, to grieve the death of John the Baptist, and to get restored. Who doesn’t need that from time to time?

After feeding the 5000 men plus women and children, Jesus sends the disciples away. He gets them on a boat and sends them to the other side, and then he dismisses the crowd. Jesus climbs a mountain so he could be by himself and pray. We may not have a mountain to climb to escape; we may not have a country cabin to run to; we may not have a beach house to vacation in; but we can all find some place in our home, even in our neighborhood to go and have time alone with God. It needs to be a priority. It is a must.

I don’t know about you but when I’ve had that time alone, I come back refreshed. I am so much more pleasant, or at least I think I am. LOL

So Jesus needs to meet up with the disciples. He knows he put them on a boat. He knows the weather conditions. He knew the weather situation before he sent them out in the boat. Now that Jesus has been with God, it’s time to reconnect to those he loves, to those he serves, to those he minister and instead of walking around the lake or getting into another boat, he takes a stroll across the water. I wonder how many times he had done this little trick before. Don’t you? Because how fun would that be just to walk across the water? Have you ever thought about that? A casual stroll—across the lake not worrying if you’ll be bit by an alligator or snapped at by a turtle. It’s rather whimsical don’t you think? To see this side of Jesus. I like it.

Jesus is walking by the boat, and the disciples start wigging out, losing their minds thinking they are seeing a ghost. Remember John the Baptist had recently been beheaded. It could be John, or someone could have killed Jesus, and the ghost was Jesus’ ghost. I wonder if he glowed. There is no darkness in him. He had been in the presence of his Father and after Moses was in God’s presence he glowed. Just sayin’. I might be pretty freaked out too. They just didn’t know enough yet. But as soon as Jesus saw their distress, he was just as quick to comfort them. Are you like that with those you love? You don’t want to cause them any stress or fear. If you see them stressed or in fear, you immediately want to calm those fear. Reminds me of my children who have at some point in time in their short lives have been afraid of the dark. Calming their fears – that’s just what a parent does.

There comes a time when you give and give and give of yourself and you are empty. You have nothing left to give even if someone you love were to come to you in fear needing you, and yet you have nothing to give. That is a hopeless feeling for me. I try never to be in that condition.

Here’s one of the things I gleaned about this part of the story, Jesus sent them into some rough waters. The waters weren’t capsizing the boat. The wind wasn’t ripping the sails, but Jesus knew he was sending “his children” into a difficult situation. Was it to see how they would handle it? Was it to give them an opportunity to grow in their faith? Was it to give Peter the chance to make a step of faith? Regardless of Jesus’ reason, Jesus was present providing his peace and his wisdom never losing patience. I am so incredibly thankful that he doesn’t lose his patience with me. He knows ahead of time what is going to happen in your life and mine, and sometimes he pushes us toward the difficulty or challenge. It’s up to us to look for him in the storm, know who he is, trust in his heart, and claim him.

We aren’t done with this passage by any means, but this was important for me to know today. I am not alone in the journey he sets us out on and neither are you.