Storms 
By Mike Rule

"Right away, Jesus made his disciples get into a boat and start back across the lake But he stayed until he had sent the crowds away… Later that evening…the boat was a long way from the shore. It was going against the wind and was being tossed around by the waves. A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples. When they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming. At once, Jesus said to them, "Don’t worry! I am Jesus. Don’t be afraid." Peter replied, "Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water." "Come on!" Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him. But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted. Right away, Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, "You surely don’t have much faith. Why do you doubt?" When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down." (Matthew 14:22-31 - CEV)

In this passage we find the disciples floating along minding their own business while simply following the instruction of Jesus to sail on without Him. Suddenly, a storm arises and they fight to keep the boat afloat. Then in the midst of the storm, they are terrified to see someone or something walking to them on the water. They fear they are seeing a ghost when Jesus cries out to them and says, "Fear not, it is I…"

I can imagine that Peter is obviously amazed and full of doubt at the same time. In his exuberance he cries out to Jesus, "Lord, if it is You, bid me to come to You on the water." Jesus responds by saying, "Come on, bro," (or something like that). I can see Peter getting about six to ten steps away from the boat – just far enough that he’s fully committed and cannot turn back – when he realizes where he is and asks himself, What in the world am I doing??? With his eyes now focused on the storm, he begins to be overwhelmed by the waters and starts to sink. As he goes down he cries out to Jesus, "Lord, save me!"

Imagine the love and humor in Jesus’ eyes as He watches Peter and sees this scenario playing out. As quickly as Peter begins to sink, Jesus’ hand is already reaching out to him; and before the words are out of Peter’s mouth, Jesus has hold of his hand.

Isn’t it fascinating to realize that Jesus didn’t stop the storm in order to save Peter? He reached out and saved Peter in the midst of the storm. In fact, Jesus didn’t do anything about the storm until after they both were in the boat. Do you know that in the midst of your storms Jesus is reaching out to you, too? When Jesus has hold of your hand, the storm actually becomes less relevant--or maybe completely irrelevant. When Jesus has hold of your hand, He is all that matters. The next time the storms come along in your life let Him take hold of your hand. As He does, you will become more willing to let Him do whatever He desires with the storm. He may stop it; He may not. But you will be able to say that Jesus is enough.