Matthew 14:22-27 NASB Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. [23] After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. [24] But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. [25] And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. [26] When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. [27] But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
The unknown, or the uncertain, is usually the cause of fear, and fear exposes our need to feel like we are in control so that things stay predictable. Jesus said in John 16 that we would have tribulation in this world. It is important for you to understand that when Jesus said that, it wasn’t a prediction but a guarantee. We live in a fallen world. Therefore, people and external circumstances are very unpredictable, and knowing how to live in that environment without fear is foundational to a life that overcomes. Jesus wants us to learn how to abide in him so that our lives are characterized by a supernatural quality, and I have discovered over the years that even if Jesus isn’t the cause of storms in our lives, He uses storms to teach us how to “not be afraid, and to walk on water.” In the story above, the disciples were dealing with the kind of horrible storms that often suddenly whip up on the Sea of Galilee, and in the middle of the night, about 3 o’clock in the morning, Jesus came walking to them on the waves. It has always been a curiosity to me how Jesus taught His disciples important lessons while they were in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee. If their past experience is any indicator, they were already afraid because of the storm, and now they see someone they thought was the ghost of Jesus coming towards them, walking on the water. Verse 26 says that they were troubled, and then these great apostles, the foundation of the church, cried out in fear. A better translation would be that they were “screaming in terror.” I have this humorous image of this boat full of grown men all screaming in fear at the top of their lungs. It appears there wasn’t a John Wayne in the whole bunch. The behavior of these spiritual giants makes me feel a lot better about myself.
In the midst of all this fear and emotional chaos, Jesus simply speaks and says (I’m going to translate what He said, as the original Greek puts it so that you will fully understand what He was communicating), “Jesus repeatedly said to them, keep being courageous, continually, each moment at a time, because I AM; stop being afraid.”
Spiritual courage is lived out in the now, one step at a time, but if you find yourself consumed with what the outcome might be of your circumstance or situation, then it is easy to become anxious or fearful, and anxiety leads to all kinds of sin. Purpose in your heart to abide in Christ in the next moment, one day at a time. This is so important because often, we find ourselves in battles that have ebbs and flows to them. If we are always trying to anticipate what the end might be, or we get into trying to control things to force an early good outcome, we will find ourselves in great spiritual trouble. I can make plans in the Lord and have a sense of when some battle might end, but the Lord is the only one who knows the end from the beginning. Whenever your battle begins, the Lord already knows the end. We can trust him with that and simply abide in Christ today and win today, one day at a time. The reason that we can do that is because of what Jesus said to them in light of the storm. In the midst of the storm, which seemed like the most real thing in the world to these disciples, Jesus shows up and says, “I AM.” According to Hebrews 11:6, faith is believing that “HE IS.” He is present in the midst of the storm. He was saying that He was the most real thing in that circumstance. He is in control, and not the storm, and He is all-sufficient and adequate to handle any storm. Not only is He bigger than the storm, He’s walking on the water. That which threatened to be over their heads was already under His feet, and in every storm you and I face, Jesus has already overcome, and He just wants us to trust Him to manifest His victory, His way, and in His time. No matter what storm you’re going through, you can know that Jesus is standing in the midst of your storm, saying to you, “Take courage, I AM; you can stop being afraid now.”