Peter is one of the most interesting Characters in the Bible. I know that many label Peter as an emotional and hasty man, but I think there is something wonderful about Peter that makes the stories of the disciples very colorful and eventful. Without Peter I think the disciples would have been just a bunch of followers who played it safe all the time. Peter had many weaknesses like many of us have, but one thing that Peter did not have is the ‘fear of failure’ or the hesitation that makes us wonder “What would people think If I….”.
I am reminded of the passage in the Bible that talks about Peter walking on the water. I am sure many of us have read this passage or even preached from this passage concluding that Peter’s lack of faith caused him to drown. It is true that Peter’s inability to keep his eyes fixed on Jesus caused his failure to successfully walk on the water. For a change I want us to see the other side of this story. If you have your Bibles please turn with me to Matthew 14: 22-30.
I guess the disciples thought that Peter was out of his mind to attempt something like walking on water….just because nobody has ever walked on the water before.
Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him to the other shore and after some time starts walking to them and the disciples think it is a ghost and cry out in fear. It is obvious that the disciples were shocked and were very relieved that it was not a ghost as they feared. While the rest of the disciples were recovering from their shock, Peter comes up with an idea that further shocked the rest of the disciples. I guess the disciples thought that Peter was out of his mind to attempt something like walking on water. Nobody ever thinks of walking on the water, just because nobody has ever walked on the water before. But Peter asks Jesus “Lord, if it’s you…tell me to come to you on the water.” (Matt 14:28).
He failed, but he failed attempting something extraordinary…we cannot live our lives in the shadow or fear of failure.
We all know that Peter did not walk too long on the water, but what we fail to understand is that Peter is the only other man in the Bible who did walk on the water besides Jesus; even if it were just a few steps. Notice carefully that the Bible says in Vs 29 “Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus”. He failed, but he failed attempting something extraordinary. I am not advocating hasty actions, but I do want us to understand that we cannot live our lives in the shadow or fear of failure, or the fear of what would people think.
It is very unfortunate that our generation only applauds and recognizes achievement and tends to undermine all the attempts, and sometimes even mock the attempts that fail. Since we only salute the ones who succeed and mock the ones who fail, we have a generation of people who will not attempt anything big because they are afraid of failure. When was the last time you attempted something big in your life? No doubt failure is painful, but the pain of not attempting is probably worse.
Theodore Roosevelt says “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat”. In the words of the father of the modern missions William Carey “Expect great things from God, and attempt great things for God”. Oh, by the way Peter did get his clothes wet and sink in the water, but he still remains the only man besides Jesus who walked on the water. So get your feet out of the boat and see what God can do.
Peter did get his clothes wet and sink in the water, but he still remains the only man besides Jesus who walked on the water. So get your feet out of the boat…
– – Author: Rev. Francis Burgula – –
