Matthew 14:22-33 WHO IS IN THE STORM WITH YOU?

“And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God” (Matthew 14:22-33).

All right, now let’s back up and look at verse 22 . . .

“And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away” (verse 22).

So, they are all going to get in the boat and they are going to leave Him there, and they are going to go to the other side of the lake.

Now, do you ever consider the donkey that someone tied up, where the Apostles could find it, so that they could untie it, that Jesus would have transportation in Jerusalem? Or, how about that tree that was planted, only to be specifically cut down to be made into the cross Jesus died on? When were those stones tossed out in eternity set to reach earth on exactly Joshua’s long day in order to kill the enemies of God’s people? The Bible even tells us that hail is planned in advance to fall on unbelievers during the Tribulation period. These kind of things are found throughout the Bible, that were planned way in advance to accomplish some purpose of God. So, right off the bat here, we have Jesus sending the disciples away. They are going to be away from Him, separate, in the boat. Jesus is not in the boat. And a plan that was brewed when in the past is now taken shape in the form of a storm.

“And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone” (verse 23).

He went up to what? To pray . . . to pray.

That was the first thing I noticed when I was reading this story. We have Peter on the water, there is a storm, there is Jesus coming out on the water to meet them. But before there was any of that, before there was even ever a storm, Jesus prayed.

We need to pray before there is a storm. We don’t need to pray in the storm, or because of the storm—that’s fine and that’s good--but if you are waiting till the storm to pray, you are doing it wrong. We are supposed to be prayed up before. That’s the point.

You know, we need to build up a wall of prayer around you, and building up a wall of prayer around other Christians. Praying up before the storm—that’s how we are supposed to pray.

“But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary” (verse 24).

So, the thing I see there is that the ship is in the water—the ship is not tied up at the dock—the dock is safer, but there is nothing for the ship to do there. That is not what it was built for. The ship can be there, it can look all pretty, but that’s for show. Its purpose is to be out on the water, rain or shine, that’s what it’s built for.

The ship was “tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary . . .”

“And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea” (verse 25).

So, here we have the fourth watch. You know, there is four parts to the day—and then we start over. Have you ever heard, ‘it is darkest just before the dawn?’ We are in the fourth watch here. It’s the darkest part of the night. There are areas in the world when Marines are running operations and not even their night vision will help—because it is so dark—there is no natural light, because that is what night vision does—it takes the little bit of light there is—and makes it so you can see. But they can’t even use that, because there is no natural light, when it is that dark.

So, we are in the fourth watch of the night here. It’s dark—in the middle of a storm—in the water. That would be kind of jarring to anyone that is stuck on the boat. I think it would be. Jesus went unto them walking on the sea.

“And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear” (verse 26).

Why? They didn’t know it was Him. They see somebody walking out on the water. This is clearly something supernatural. But these guys were the ones that spent all their time with Him. These people were the closest to Him—they knew Him—and when He is walking to them on the water, they didn’t even recognize Him.

And sometimes, that is how it is going to be. There’s going to be something happening, or maybe you see something coming your way—and, you’ve got to, as the Bible says, ‘try the spirits.’ You got to find out where that is coming from. Just because something is good, does not mean that it is of God. You know, the Devil offered Jesus this world. He can do plenty around here. So, you need to find out where it is coming from. You need to find out if it actually is the Lord. Because I’ve even been there before. Something is coming my way and not in a bad way, but I can see something coming, and I’ll stop and say, ‘Okay Lord, is that You?’ Not to sound too Jewish, but “You want to give me a sign? Let me know something?

So, don’t think this strange that they cried out for fear, because something is off in the distant, we can’t necessarily see if it is the Lord or not.

“But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid’ (verse 27).

That’s pretty good, when He is around . . . He said, ‘it is I, be not afraid.’ And as I’ve said before, I’ll fully admit—I feel very alone sometimes—I hadn’t been through very much in my life before my wife passed away. That was a real storm! Even though the only one I could see that night was my life’s partner laying still in her bed, I knew that I was not alone. Somewhere in that room my Saviour was there saying, ‘Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.’

Now, I’ll admit there was nothing to cheer about that night, but I still had joy. Joy is that presence of mind wherein we know absolutely without a shadow of doubt that God is behind everything that happens, and He means it all for good. On the bright side, my wife was running up and down the streets of heaven in a brand new body—more alive than she had ever been in her life!

And then I hear about some of these things that go on. But I think, If I were stuck in some other country like the preacher, Brunson, and my family here were trying to scramble to get me home—would I be fending off those feelings of fear? I don’t know. Things are very different in the storm. You can say whatever you want out here, but when you are in the storm that’s when they say, ‘the rubber hits the road,’ ‘put your money where your mouth is.’ That’s when it’s game time, because talk is cheap. But we’ll find out how you are in the storm, because that is who you really are.

But here we come to the main focus of the matter—what I want to look at.

“And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water” (verse 28).

So, that’s not even too much doubt there, because that in and of itself, ‘Lord, if it really is you, tell me to come out to you, and I can do it.’

“And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus” (verse 29).

So, that’s the first thing I want to look at out of this main point, here with Peter. We are going to be looking at Peter tonight.

And the first thing we see in verse 29 about this situation . . . ‘And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship’ . . . so, Peter got down out of the boat. There was obedience there, there was trust, there was belief. Peter stepped out. Like the ship on the dock it is safer at the dock where the boat is in the water. It’s a whole lot safer for Peter in the boat, then it is to actually step out on the water.

There’s a lot of people out there with willing hearts. They say they are willing to do this and willing to do that. They’ll even tell the Lord, ‘Lord, I’m willing to do this or do that.’ But when it is time, where is that first step. We’ve all heard that saying about a journey of a thousand miles, you know what? It starts with a single step. People say they are willing, but will they get out of the boat? That’s a whole other matter. And when Peter was come out of the ship, what did he do? He walked on the water to go to Jesus. How many people do you know that have walked on the water? Not a whole lot. I only know of two that walked on the water there.

Now, people like to give Peter a hard time in this story, but I will say this. He got to walk on the water. Regardless of anything else about his ministry, his time with Jesus, anything you have to say to criticize Peter—he got to walk on water. Why? Because he obeyed. Jesus said, ‘Come.’ And that is when he stepped out.

It’s amazing what will happen when we do what the Lord calls us to do. Just to name two examples. David went from a shepherd to a king. Paul went from persecutor to a preacher. And all of us that are saved went from lost to saved. That’s a big contrast. Why? Because we obeyed. Because we stepped out of the boat. And metaphorically speaking, we’re walking on the water.

“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me” (verse 30).

So, it says when he saw the wind boisterous. When he saw, ‘men are visual creatures.’ People, in general, what we see is what affects us. That is why we need to be careful about that thing with antennas sticking out of it in your living rooms. What we see is a problem. And when he saw the storm, that it was boisterous—and from his point of view—very dangerous and was afraid.

And that is what I’m talking about. People often criticize Peter in this verse, that he was scared. Hey, he was out there. He was in the middle of the storm. He was already in it. Don’t criticize him too much. I’m sure it is pretty scary out in the storm. Fear took his focus, and beginning to sink, he cried, saying . . .

“Lord, save me . . .”

That’s the best thing he could have said. Middle of the storm, he is walking on the water, suddenly his footing is giving way. And he’s going to be sinking. I don’t know what was going through his mind, but we do know what came out of his mouth—three words— “Lord, save me . . .”

And I’m sure that there’s times in our lives when those were the words that came to mind, “Lord, save me . . .” Whether it was when you knew you were a sinner, headed to hell. Or even just going through some sort of trouble, some valley, you were backed up against the Red Sea, “Lord, save me . . .” is the appropriate response to that situation.

“Lord, save me . . .”

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (verse 31).

The first two words . . . “And immediately . . .” WHEW!!! He didn’t let him sink and go ‘Glub! Glub! And get a little unconscious because he was drowning. No, it says immediately that Jesus caught him.

You say, “Lord, save me . . .” and I’ve got proof here that immediately He can do it. When you say, “Lord, save me . . .” immediately He can reach forth and catch you. Jesus didn’t waste any time coming to Peter’s aid. In time, On time, Every time! On His Time. Our time isn’t His time. But every time He is on time.

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him . . .”

He didn’t miss. He caught him. I don’t think that God makes a habit of missing. I think He can catch whatever you throw at Him. It doesn’t even faze Him. But He is not going to reach down, and stumble and Peter is going to slip out of His hand—and then He has to go fishing for him in the water—No! He just caught him. Because He can do whatever He wants. There’s no ‘‘Oops’ missed that one!’ with God. God doesn’t say, ‘Oops!’ I’m glad that I don’t have a God that says, ‘Oops!’ Oh, ‘You married her? Oops! Man, I messed that one up.’

No! There’s no ‘Oops!’ Thank God there is no Oops. And He will catch you.

Let’s look at a verse in Psalms.

“I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears” (Psalms 18:1-6).

“made me afraid . . .”

There’s that word again, afraid. It’s almost like it is a regular human emotion. Don’t let people beat you up for being afraid, and if I sounded like that a few minutes ago—I apologize—fear is a normal human emotion.

“In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.”

Whew! That’s a good portion of Scripture right there. I like that!

Back to Matthew 14 . . .

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” (verse 31).

He may ask you why you doubted in the first place, But thankfully . . .

“And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased” (verse 32).

Thankfully, that storm passed by. And all this, like anything else—read John chapter 11. There is one point, there is one purpose, to this whole event. There is a reason that Lazarus died, there is a reason that Jesus let him die. Word came to Him and He said, ‘yea, ok, I’ll be on my way.’ And then He stayed where He was for a few more days.

There’s a reason for all of this. There is a reason here for the storm that Peter had to endure. There is a reason for the storm that you have to endure. And I think we find it in the last verse.

“Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God” (verse 33).

I think that’s the whole point.

You might have to go through a storm—not so that you can grow—growth can come through the storm. But I think, mankind is a little too self-absorbed sometimes. We think the storm is all about us. Oh Lord, what do I need to learn from this? What am I doing wrong? I . . . I . . . I . . . I . This storm might have absolutely nothing to do with you. It might have everything to do with everyone else watching you go through the storm.

“Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God” (verse 33).

“they worshipped him . . .”

We are supposed to be a testimony. We are supposed to be a witness. And if our job is to bring others to Christ, then from situations like this, I think—like going through a storm—is going to be a big part of that. People listen more to what you do than what you say. That’s how it goes. It doesn’t matter who it is. That’s how humans operate. Even our children. Our children listen more to what you do than what you say. Fact! Because we’ll see somebody who is a hypocrite and we’ll throw everything he says right out the window!

So, that’s what I see in these verses here. We have our prayer lists, and there are a lot of people going through storms. Right in here, and out there. Some are going through storms that I don’t ever want to face. The loss of my dear wife was enough! But there are even more horrible things that people go through. I thank God for His grace and His mercy. I ask God for His grace and His mercy. But should the storm come, it may not be about me. Probably not about me. Probably about somebody else. Maybe somebody will come up to me afterwards. Man, you are really going through it. How do you do that? “Well, let me tell you.”

Maybe I won’t have to tell him, maybe they’ll just know. I don’t know. But it’s not all about us, it’s all about Him.

I like to bring up Revelation chapter four a lot. And that is why, because it’s all about Him.

For He is really all that matters, for He is really all that matters. If we are going through a storm, I know that I said talk is cheap, but we need to remind ourselves about that—that it is all about Him.

Paul said that he gloried in his infirmities. That is quite a testimony. And that is what we have to learn from this portion of Scripture right here.

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