“So He said, “Come’” (Matthew 14:29).

If you are like those who seek first to know Christ, then you will not seek first calm seas.  You will seek to know Him even amid boisterous waves.  Like Peter, you will call out above storm noise, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water!”  The command was given. Peter came down out of the boat and walked on water to go to Jesus until he saw the storm, became afraid, and started to sink.  You know the story, but what of the moments between his first step on the water and starting to sink?

The moments between the command to come and the plea to be saved are defining moments.  They are the “I will not turn back” moments; the moments when you realize that you have no one else but the Lord to whom you care to go.  In these moments neither straining at the oars nor stilled waters satisfy; only the divine “Come.”  While the heart that desires such a command is not wont to let fear swamp faith, when fears do arise, the same cries out, saying “Save me!”,  and is saved. 

Had Peter reached Jesus without sinking, he may have been more inclined to exclaim, “I made it!” than to exclaim, “Truly You are the Son of God.”  Had Peter made it to Jesus on an “If,” he may have thought his faith stronger than it was, and sidestepped his highest need.  Peter did not need to meet Jesus without sinking, but needed to be caught up by the hand of the Lord; did not need to walk perfectly, but rather to know Jesus beyond “If.” We have the same need, and when we start to sink, we know it.  When “Command me to come to You” becomes “Save me, Lord,” then “If it is You, Lord” becomes “Truly You are the Son of God.”  This becoming comes only when a-coming.

Author: Carolyn Roehrig