by Hannah Rice Myers

Created on: January 22, 2012

I knew a woman once who suffered great trials and  tribulations. Her health was failing; she had cancer, a disease she had been battling for four years. It was September of 2010, and during one of our phone conversations she was telling me of growing inability to walk. This caused her great frustration, and despite her tremendous faith in Jesus, she desperately wanted to continue walking on her own. After repeated falls, though, fear became the dominant force in her life, diminishing her abilities further. The one thing it did not do, however, was stop her from trying. So during our conversation, a specific story in the bible came to my mind almost instantly. I took a moment to look up the verse; Matthew 14: 22-33:

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

29 “Come,” he said.

   Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

I pointed this verse out to the woman,  explaining that she represented Peter. Although Jesus gave Peter the ability to walk on water with Him, fear and loss of faith in Jesus immediately resulted in Peter sinking. The woman was able to relate to this verse, and I told her, "Anytime you attempt to walk, picture Jesus in front of you, holding His hand out to you. Listen as He tells you not to be afraid, but to take courage. When you do this He will help you

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