Matthew 14:29  So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

Can you imagine what it must have been like to be on a boat during a storm? I've been fortunate not to be caught on sea in a storm often, but there was one time I distinctly remember. We were taking a ferry across a sound during a storm and it was pretty wild. Most of the passengers were crammed into the protected, covered area, standing close together. I don't usually have too bad a time with motion sickness, but, well, this was an exception. It was not a fun ride!

Picture that as Jesus makes His disciples get into a boat and head to the other side of the sea without Him. This is right after they've seen Him feed 5000 people. Jesus sent the people away and took some time to be by Himself (there's a lesson there) then later in the night, when the boat was in the middle of a storm tossed sea, He walks on water out to them.

The disciples, seeing this figure walking on water, were scared. Jesus assures them that it is He.

Now, Peter, good ole impetuous Peter, decides to make sure it is Jesus by giving Him a dare.

"If it's really You Lord, tell me to come to you."

Jesus says, "Sure. C'mon" (or something like that.)

Then, Peter GETS OUT OF THE BOAT. And he WALKED ON WATER.

Now, many people concentrate on the fact that Peter realized the conditions and started to panic and began to sink. He cried out to Jesus, Who saved him, and then gently scolds Peter about his lack of faith.

So why did Jesus do that?

I think (and this is my opinion) that Jesus was scolding Peter more for questioning who He was when he first saw Him, and putting Jesus to the test with the dare. I don't think Jesus was referring to Peter leaving the boat and walking on the water. After all Jesus IMMEDIATELY helped Peter when he started to sink.

It's almost like, "Dear, dear Peter. You didn't even have to go through this at all. If you'd believed it was me in the first place, you wouldn't have been in a position to panic."

Aren't we like that sometimes? "Lord, prove to me that You are here." "Lord, give me this if You love me." "Lord, You must do this for me." Instead, could we be like, "Oh, hi Lord!" when we see Him show up in the midst of a trying situation? Instead of, "Where are you?" opening our eyes to say, "Oh, there You are!"

Then maybe we won't even have to step out of the boat. But the cool thing is, even in his time of doubt, Peter still GOT OUT OF THE BOAT. No one else did. He tried it. He moved forward. Yes, he may have faced some more scary stuff than the others, but even though he faltered, he believed enough to get out there and take a few steps. Jesus' love to Peter in the midst of his lack of faith is beautiful. Peter could have avoided the sinking part all together, but even in the middle of that, he got to experience something others did not. He walked on water, if only briefly. What a demonstration of God's grace that even if we are stepping out with little faith, even if we may put ourselves in situations we didn't have to, He meets us there and helps us be victorious.