Do You See What I See

By Grant Gaines

The most popular tourist attraction in the United States is Time Square in New York City. The second most popular attraction in America is Las Vegas. Do you want to take a guess at what the third most popular attraction is? If you guessed Disney World, you would be correct!

Disney World is fantastic, dare I say it’s even magical! And it’s not just Disney that people love, the state of Florida is also one of the most popular tourist destinations in the United States. Not only does Florida have no state income tax, great seafood, and fun attractions such as Disney World and Universal Studios, it also has some of the best beaches in America.

Beaches are great because it doesn’t matter how cold, how gloomy, or how rainy it is in your hometown, the second you get to the beach all you need are your sandals, a swimsuit, sunglasses, and a smile. It’s impossible to have a bad time on the beach! In fact, I bet if you read the 10 Commandments in their original language you might find something along the line of, “Thou shall not frown when at the beach.” Everybody loves the beach-everybody loves good weather!

But there are certain times in all of our lives when it doesn’t matter how good the weather is outside because there is a storm brewing in our hearts. So what do you do when you’re in a storm? Well Matthew 14 answers that question in an interesting way.

I’m sure you remember this story as it’s one of the most popular stories we read about in Sunday School growing up-Jesus and Peter walking on the water. As you will recall, the disciples were in the middle of the Sea of Galilee and in the middle of a storm as Jesus began to walk on the water in their direction (Matthew 14:23-25). After the disciples were reassured by Jesus not to be afraid, Peter boldly got out of the boat and started to walk towards Jesus (Matthew 14:27-29).

As Peter was walking on the water towards Jesus, he saw something, became afraid, and started to sink (Matthew 14:30). For my whole life I have always glazed over that verse and assumed that “something” that Peter saw was the waves that were crashing all around him. And who wouldn’t be afraid of the waves? Waves are massive bodies of water moving at rapid speeds and capsizing all around you!

But if you look closely at Matthew 14:30 (NIV, bold mine), you’ll notice that it says, “But when [Peter] saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.'” Did you catch that? Peter saw the wind and was afraid.

Now let me ask you a question, have you ever seen the wind? Certainly you’ve seen what the wind can do by moving leaves, sticks, and in severe cases even trees and cars. But have you ever actually seen the wind itself? Of course you haven’t! You can’t see the wind! And yet that’s exactly what Matthew 14:30 said Peter saw that caused him to sink.

I believe this gives us good insight into our own lives when we face storms of many kinds. A lot of times we, like Peter, start looking at the wind which causes us to sink. And what exactly is this wind? Well, just like you can’t see the wind in real life, it’s the same way with a spiritual storm. The wind that Peter “saw” represents the “what if’s” in our own lives-what if you never get that job, what if you never get married, what if you never get into that certain college, what if your family never forgives you, what if, what if, what if.

And as soon as we start looking at the wind, we too, like Peter, begin to sink away from the calling that God has for our lives. Don’t ever forget that Jesus called Peter to do the impossible by walking on the water. And that’s exactly what Peter did as long as he had his eyes fixed on Jesus. But as soon as he started looking at the “wind,” he began to sink. The same is often true of God’s calling on our own lives-it is often something that we can’t do without the divine intervention of the sovereign Lord. This can easily cause us to fret and start seeing all kinds of “what if’s” in the wind around us. And just like Peter, when we start to focus on the negative “what if’s” in life, we fail to live up to the supernatural calling God has given us.

So what do you do when you’re in a storm? Instead of worrying about the “what if’s”, we fix our eyes on Jesus, “…the Author and Perfecter of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:2, NIV) who is, “…an anchor for [our] soul, firm and secure….” And it is then and only then that we stop merely surviving storms and start thriving through storms.

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