One of Jesus’ more memorable miracles took place on the sea of Galilee. After feeding the five thousand disciples, Jesus dispersed the multitude and sent His disciples by boat to the other side of the sea. The wind was contrary, it was the fourth watch of the night and the disciples were troubled when Jesus came to them “walking on the water” (Matthew 14:25-26).

As incredible as this is, another amazing event took place on that memorable evening that is sometimes overlooked. Peter, after learning that it was Jesus who was walking on the water and not a “ghost,” says, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water” (Matthew 14:28). Jesus replies, “Come.” The word of God tells us that Peter “had come down out of the boat” and “walked on the water” to go to Jesus (Matthew 14:29).

Observe that the text doesn’t say he tried, but could not. It says Peter “walked on the water.” This mere fisherman, exercising faith in his Lord, did that which most believe impossible—he walked on water. Now here is a challenging question for you to ponder, “Can you walk on water?”

Before considering the question, please observe that the lesson did not end here. The Holy Spirit goes on to reveal that when Peter saw that the water was boisterous, he was afraid and began to sink. He cried out, “Lord, save me!” So, the Lord immediately stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:30-31). 

Peter did that which so many do today—he doubted. Doubt will always undermine faith (cf. James 1:6-8). Because our hearts are laden with doubts, our faith can never reach its fullest potential. Because we focus too much on the boisterous seas, taking our focus off of the Lord, we will never know if we can walk on water! Those boisterous seas may be the waves of trial, adversity, calamity, troubles, cares and such forth we face in the world, whether by chance or of our own devices. They may also be constant, unrelenting voices of the faithless world we live in telling us “No,” “You can’t,” or “That’s impossible.” These voices of doubt more often than not keep people from trying, which is an even greater tragedy than trying and failing. When Peter began to sink, the Lord was there to lift him up. The Lord also stands ready to lift us up when we try and fail. At least we have the courage to try. Maybe we only take one step the first time, but that will embolden us to take two the second time. Before we know it, faith will have conquered doubt and we will be “walking on water.”