The biblical story in Matthew Chapter 14 reminds us about the importance of having faith in Jesus Christ when the waters of life threaten to consume us. As Jesus walked on the lake to greet his disciples in their fishing boat, many were afraid they were seeing a ghost, but Peter knew it was Jesus and got out of the boat to walk on the water to Him. As long as Peter’s faith was strong, his footing on the water was firm, but when he got nervous and took his eye off Jesus, he began to sink. This true story reminds us to keep our eyes on Christ during times of doubt, and this is the topic of today’s blog, asking writers to give their opinions on what this biblical story means to them personally.
Photo by Dylan White
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Like Peter, I desire to follow Him out of the boat. But also like Peter, I tend to allow my fears to control me once I am in the midst of the sea. Every day, I struggle with the wind and the waves. Always attempting to walk on the water toward Him, but always sinking because I allow my eyes to refocus on the loud and grasping sea. Though I begin to sink day after day in the consciousness of my sin, which crashes like the waves, and because of the lust I possess for the world which roars like the wind, He is there. I sometimes think He left me because of my lacking faith or embarrassing sin, but He was always there. Though I know the wind and the waves will always be crashing around me day after day and though I know I will regrettingly sink, I also know that He will be there to pull me up. He will always be there. By HANNAH LEAHY As much as I don’t like to admit it, as much as I want to come off as completely fearless, many things scare me. Because of that, Matthew 14: 27-29 speaks to me in such a way that helps me have courage. When I think about my future, I sort of fear the unknown. Will I be successful? Will I pick the right career choice? Am I even on the right path to get there? I don’t find myself to be stressed very often, for I’m used to balancing many things in my life, which I’ve done to myself over the years on purpose. In all of that, I haven’t really sought out God if I’m being completely honest, because I feel like I’ve gotten pretty good at handling so many things being on my plate at once. However, recently I’ve been thinking that maybe now, since I’m getting older and closer to my career path and life on my own, maybe I need to find God. Maybe being at MBU now is my chance to do that, to step out of the boat and come walk with Jesus. By CARTER MIZE Like Peter, I struggle to have faith and trust Jesus and myself. Anxiety of failure tempts me and makes me question myself. Being afraid to fail, to be embarrassed in front of people whose opinions I value. These fears challenge me and my self belief. The worry is the wind and waves. Relating to my life, faith in the off-the-field work when the spring season comes is a big challenge. Trusting the work while you put your head down to develop each day at an indoor facility during the cold Missouri winter months. So much time to think, as each day goes by. So much time to focus on the wind and waves. Trusting myself and Jesus to guide me to where I strive to be, as long as I put in the time. That is where I need to be, if I want to walk on water. Get out of the boat. _______________________________________________________________ By R. JORDAN BENAVIDES Get out of the boat and walk. Jesus wanted Peter to take a step by faith and not by sight. This resonated with me as I looked within myself to evaluate if I was following this principle. Often times I fall short of this. Often times we need reassurance from God to know that he is with us. More often than not we still doubt God and ask him to save us. If we indeed believe in Jesus Christ and follow his word then we are already saved. Jesus has already saved us. He is the greatest sacrifice. I don’t have to doubt God’s favor and protection over my life. Instead, I should be thanking him in advance for what he has already done. The blood of Jesus Christ saves even the most wicked man. Every day I walk in newness of life. My lifestyle matches my faith. I am secured and reassured in reading his word. In my life I am constantly being pulled in different directions, and the number of things fighting for my attention every day continues to grow. Things like school and my job add stress to my daily load as the pressure to study harder, make more friends, and do more with my time compete for my energy. When I read Matthew 14: 27-29, one word sticks out to me: Come. Jesus does not ask us to divide our attention, or stay up later trying to do more every day, all He asks of us is to come. Hearing this really helps calm me down when I begin to worry about all of the other things in my life, because when I get too focused on those things I lose sight of what really matters. When Jesus says, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid,” it reminds me that my focus should be on Him, and that I do not need to be afraid that I am not doing enough, but instead, I should be trusting in Him. The story of Peter being called to walk on the water teaches us that our focus is important, and no matter how scary life may get, when our focus is on Christ, He will support us. That is why I love this passage; It helps me to calm down and it reminds me of what is really important in my life. _______________________________________________________________ By HAMIN LEE What does it mean to take a leap of faith? Faith is a strong trust or confidence in someone or something. In life faith is required in many ways, and we all have some sort of faith whether we realize it or not. It takes faith to do little things and also great things. But in the Bible faith is more than trust or confidence. Faith is taken on a higher level where faith is believing in things that we haven’t seen the outcome of. Although this seems hard to do, we have to let our faith be bigger than our fears. So just like how Peter stepped out of the boat into the water, we too have to take a leap of faith to things we never experienced before. It means that we have to fully surrender to all expectations and trust that God will take control. _______________________________________________________________ By CALEB MILEY This means having blind faith in something. It means to have no fear in anything you do because you know you have the faith to do the unbelievable. It allows you to live life with a sense of reckless abandonment, because you know there is something greater than you that is pulling the strings.
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Photo illustration by General McArthur _______________________________________________________________
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Photo by Ashley Fay _______________________________________________________________
Photo by Aris Hogan
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Photo by Caleb Miley _______________________________________________________________
Photo by Jack Gienke
Triston Buckley 
Emily Retzer