Navigate life's challenges with God's wisdom for a more successful and fulfilling journey.
Staying Focused in a Distracted World
Stepping Out in Faith
In Matthew 14, verses 22- 33 we read the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus. In verse 24, we see where the disciples are in a boat, in trouble, fighting against the wind and the heavy waves. Ever been there before? But then something happens in verse 26, the disciples see something that terrifies them, a figure walking toward them on the water. It urns out to be Jesus who says, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." (v. 27)
And then Peter, good ol' impulsive, bold, sometimes foot-in-mouth Peter, says something remarkable. "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." (v. 28) Jesus simply says, "Come." And look at verse 29: "And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus."
Now when you think about it, Peter is doing the impossible. He's walking on water! Gravity, physics, common sense, none of it applies right now, because his eyes are locked on Jesus. Faith always starts this way. It starts with a step, a step out of the boat, a step away from what is comfortable, away from the things we can control, because we've heard the voice of Jesus say, come, trust in me for I am in control.
I want you to notice something here: Peter didn't succeed because he was extraordinarily strong or spiritually mature. He succeeded because, in that moment, that one moment, Jesus was the only thing he was looking at. It was simple, yet radical faith.
Everything else, the wind, the waves, the impossibility of the situation, was blurred out. His whole field of vision was filled with Christ. That's what real faith looks like, church......it's not the absence of storms. It's the presence of focus. I want to say that again….its the presence of focus.
Peter was in the middle of the same storm as the other eleven disciples. The difference wasn't the wind, it was where his eyes were fixed. And I think that's where a lot of us live our Christian lives, if we're honest. We've heard the call of Jesus. We've stepped out. We started strong. We remember that season where it felt like we could walk on water, where prayer was easy, worship was electric, and nothing could shake us.
But something happened…...what was it? Well, let's keep reading, because verse 30 tells us exactly what happened to Peter, and it happens to us too.
Consider this…..When the Wind Becomes Our Phone
Verse 30: "But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me!'"
Did you catch the shift? "But when he SAW the wind." He stopped looking at Jesus and started looking at the storm. And the moment his eyes left Christ, his feet left the water figuratively and literally.
He began to sink. Now here's what gets me. The wind didn't get stronger in that moment. The waves didn't suddenly change. The only thing that changed was Peter's focus. The storm was the same storm it had always been. What sank him wasn't the circumstance, it was where his attention went.
Most of us aren't walking on literal water, fighting literal wind, but we've got our own version of "boisterous wind" pulling our eyes off Jesus every single day. For a lot of us, it's our phones. Think about it…..how many times have we sat down to pray, to read our Bible, or just be still before God, then it happens…..the ding, that little buzz, the vibration, or notification that goes off and suddenly our attention isn't on the Lord anymore, it's on a text, the email notification, a headline that turns into twenty minutes we'll never get back.
We didn't decide to purposely stop looking at Jesus, we just glanced somewhere else for a second, and before we knew it, we were sinking in something else. Anxiety. Comparison. Distraction. Busyness. But’s it's not just our phones, it’s the friend or family that has us dong things that started out small but have become huge tasks taking us away from our time with God, or our jobs that consume us.
It's the calendar packed wall-to-wall, it's the hustle, the schedules, the endless list of things demanding our attention
Peter didn't decide to stop believing in Jesus. He simply shifted his gaze. That's all it takes. Distraction isn't usually a dramatic rejection of faith, it's a slow drift, a small glance away that turns into sinking. The wind was always there. The moment Peter noticed it more than he noticed Jesus, he started going under. Church, our phones are not evil, busyness is not automatically sin, but when they capture the gaze that belongs to Christ, when we give more attention to the noise of this world than to the voice of our Savior, we shouldn't be surprised when we feel ourselves sinking into worry, exhaustion, or spiritual dryness. It's not because God moved. It's because we did.
Eyes Fixed, Not Circumstances
But look at what happens next in verse 31: "And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'"
Immediately, not eventually, not after Peter cleaned himself up, but immediately, Jesus reached out. And then they got into the boat, and verse 32 says the wind ceased. Isn't that something? The wind didn't have to calm down for Peter to be safe, Jesus was enough in the middle of the wind. I love how this story ends in verse 33: "Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, 'Truly You are the Son of God.'"
The whole scene ends in worship. Not in a lecture about being more careful next time. Not in a five-step plan to avoid sinking in the future. Just worship. Just awe. Just eyes back where they belong.
I’ll end with this…..I'm not going to tell you to put your phone in a drawer for the next week or rearrange your entire calendar. I just want us to ponder this question: have our eyes drifted?
Maybe it's not a phone, maybe it's worry about finances, or a relationship, or your health, or the constant noise of the world telling you everything that's wrong. Whatever it is, it's the wind and the wind has always been loud. It was loud for Peter too.
The question was never whether the wind would blow. The question was whether Peter would keep his eyes on the one who called him out of the boat in the first place.
Jesus is saying "Come." He's still reaching out His hand the moment we cry, "Lord, save me." Nothing; not our phones, not our busyness, not our storms, has to take our focus off of Him, because He's already looking at us, hand extended, ready to catch us the second we turn back to Him. So, let's remember that Jesus hasn't moved. He's still there, in the middle of the storm, saying, "Be of good cheer. It is I, do not be afraid I am with you."
Meditate on what you just read, apply it to your life and please share this with someone you know,
Love you!!!
Pastor Phil
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