“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

Jesus’ words brought comfort to His disciples, for they knew then that it was their Lord. Fierce winds blew across the waters. Waves pressed into the bow. Jesus approached their boat walking upon the sea in the dark early hours of the morning. Peter, through faith and love for His Lord, requests to come out onto the water to meet Him. Jesus simply replies, “Come.”

Peter, stepping out of the boat and onto the angry sea, rested his foot onto the surface of the water. Jesus watched as His disciple emerged from the safety of the vessel, standing firmly on full faith in Him. Walking out to His Lord, Peter began to take notice of the storm raging around him. The waves rising and falling, crashing around his feet. The wind blowing against him, threatening each step he took. Peter, suddenly realizing where he was and the danger he seemed to be in, lost sight of Jesus. Fear had overtaken him and his faith failed. He began to sink into the sea.

“Lord, save me!” he cried.

Jesus immediately reached out and, gripping Peter by the hand, pulled him back to his feet.

“You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Those words ring loud and clear throughout all time and still reach us today. In faith, we step out of the comfort of our boats onto the seas of life to follow Jesus, hoping and trusting in Him to be there and guide us as we walk upon the stormy waters. With gale force winds and crashing waves, fear can easily cause us to lose sight of Him. We forget who He is. Stress, worry, and uncertainty press in upon us and we fail to remember that He is God. He created everything, He has final authority over all, and He loves us.

With all of the storms we will face, we must remember that Jesus is in control and we can trust Him with our lives, with our eternity. We must remember and know the comfort of His words, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”, and faithfully follow our Lord’s footsteps on the water.