Be Not Afraid

Be Not Afraid
By Henry Ossawa Tanner

“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 straightaway 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.’”
Matthew 14:24-28
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Following the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, the disciples board a boat, leaving Christ on the shore to retire to pray alone. As they set out across the Sea of Galilee, they are caught in a terrible storm and begin fearing for their lives. Suddenly, the Savior appears, moving effortlessly atop the turbulent waves. In Howard W. Hunter’s retelling: “As always, he was watching over them. He loved them and cared for them. In their moment of greatest extremity, they looked and saw in the darkness an image in a fluttering robe, walking toward them on the ridges of the sea. They cried out in terror at the sight, thinking that it was a phantom that walked upon the waves. And through the storm and darkness to them—as so often to us, when, amid the darknesses of life, the ocean seems so great and our little boats so small—there came the ultimate and reassuring voice of peace with this simple declaration, ‘It is I; be not afraid.’”

Peter, reassured and then struck by impulsive faith, asks to join the Lord on the water. Christ’s simple reply to him was the same as to all of us: “Come.” Often we, too, find ourselves caught in the storms of life, filled with fear and uncertainty. It’s in these moments that Christ calls out to us, encouraging us to trust, to step beyond the ship of our fears and doubts and walk towards Him on uncertain waters. And because it is the Lord who beckons us, we can trust we will be safe despite the storm. As Charles Spurgeon put it, “Can Jesus come to us through the storm? Then we shall weather it, and come to him.”

However, as Peter soon experienced, the moment we shift our gaze from Christ to the stormy circumstances around us—the “wind boisterous” in Matthew’s description—we begin to sink. But, like Peter, even when we feel ourselves sinking, we can cry out, “Lord, save me!” And He will stretch out His hand, lift us up, and calm the storm. Let our faith be strengthened knowing that Jesus is not only the Lord of calm waters but also the Lord of the storm. Our trials may vary, our boats may differ, but the Savior walking towards us remains the same, beckoning us to step out in faith.

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