Matthew 14:22-36 Take Courage, it is I; do not be afraid
There is a reason for everything. There are several reasons for Jesus forcing his disciples to get into a boat and precede him to the other side of the sea. One of them is to go and pray, alone. We must renew ourselves through silence, stillness and meditation. Without the help of the evening, or the dismissal of the crowd and the disciples, Jesus could not have renewed himself interiorly and gathered the necessary strength to pick up his Cross (our crosses) to save us.
Take Courage
Courage is a virtue we can only learn through trial. It is one of the Cardinal virtues that are relevant to man in every age because “they are relevant to man himself, not the age” - Peter Kreeft. While the Lord was meditating, he saw the tiny boat being tossed about by the waves. He must have seen the fear in their eyes. They were fishermen. They were professionals. They were in the most familiar living space known to them and yet they were frightened. So Jesus took advantage of the moment. He came to them in a way never seen before by man. Of course the novelty frightened them even more. What they saw appeared to be a ghost, a sign of death! Instead, it was the Lord. You may think I am stretching it, but is it not in these moments of apparent disaster that we begin to look around to see the presence of the Lord or the face of God? If not, then we should! “The Lord will appear in all his glory!” (Ps 102:17)
It is I
The Lord is always in our midst, in our battles, and in our trials and tribulations, but not in our sins. Why do we doubt the Lord’s presence as we are being tossed about for Him? Why do we doubt or question God’s providence and plan? Was it not the Lord that told his men to go before him; to precede him to the other side of the sea? Yes. So why do we doubt? Because we do not pray.
Do not be afraid
“If it is you, then command me to come to you…” Bravo to Peter! It was Peter that broke the spell of doubt and went beyond what was reasonable and took a leap of faith. His faith was in the Lord, but he quickly began to doubt. But who? The Lord? No. He began to doubt himself! “Can I possibly fulfill what Jesus asks of me?” The Lord asks, “Why did you doubt?” The lesson learned by Peter is a lesson that must be learned by all of us: “Do not be afraid.”
“Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”
ReplyDeleteHow many times have I asked God to tell me what to do and when He answered, I doubted it?
Why is it so easy to make promises to God and others when I’m still in the boat?
When was the last time I stepped out of the boat onto the crashing waves and into torrential winds and my faith dwindled when I found myself surrounded by the memories of all the times before that I was drowning in fear, anger, resentment… with an undertow trying to suck me down into the depth of the abyss below? YESTERDAY!!
Did I cry out “Lord save me?” or did I resign myself to the funnel leading to the bottom of the sea?
“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
lesson no.1,306,383… Thank you Jesus!