By Ansley Zecckine
Published on November 7, 2007
The semester had just begun at PJC, and Peter found himself easing to a stop at the 9th Avenue-Airport Boulevard intersection. He was patiently waiting, about six minutes now, to make the left turn, when he realized that his car was the only one in the turn-lane. “Maybe I shouldn’t be here,” he thought.
Finally, the signal arrow changed to green, but strangely enough the traffic was still zooming through the intersection. He waited another few minutes as he watched, astonished at the sight. “What on earth is going on here,” he said aloud.
He began to ease his car out little by little, not enough to be in any danger of getting hit, but the opposing traffic still kept rushing along. Peter paused, took a deep breath, and hit the gas. The moment he committed the action, it was as if the traffic had disappeared; he made it through unscathed.
Unfortunately, he was so afraid and distracted that he hit the curb as he turned onto 9th Avenue, blowing one of his tires. On the other hand, he did have a good spare tire and the helping arm of a tire iron. I’d say he made out pretty well.
This story is a modern day reenactment of when Peter walked on water, beginning in Matthew 14:22, and there are some things that we need to consider from it, including the elements of fear, obedience, and faith.
The Bible says in Proverbs, “For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.” 2 Timothy adds, “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” Perhaps this is why Jesus said to Peter, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” God is in ultimate control of all our situations, and as a result we don’t need to fear what will happen to us.
Secondly, when we find ourselves at life’s intersections, and God has told us the direction in which we should head, we should be obedient. Whether it’s something as simple as choosing which job offer to accept, or as drastic as moving out of the country to be a missionary, we should take God at his word and do it. Jesus simply told Peter to “come.”
Peter took the leap of faith, but he got scared because of the wind, and he cried out for Jesus to save him, and Jesus “stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”
In the Biblical account, after Jesus saved Peter from sinking, they entered back into the ship, and the wind ceased. The very thing that caused Peter to fear, God had in complete control! God’s purpose isn’t to drown us, but to bring us through, and grow our “little faith.” Remember that God will provide our every need, because he is faithful to his own.