Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

In each stage in life, we learn new things. Typically between the ages of three and seven years old, many kids around the world learn how to ride a bike. This is challenging, because in order to ride a bike, you have to stop looking down at the pedals or right in front of you. Instead, you have to trust that your feet and hands will do the work. You have to look ahead to where you want to go, and steer towards something a little farther down the road. If you focus on the scrapes and bruises you might get along the way, you will not be able to ride well.

Fast-forward to learning to drive a motor vehicle. There are some similar principles. A new driver has to get past focusing on the gadgets and mechanics. They have to trust their hands and feet to operate well. They have to look ahead and steer towards a point ahead of them. And when they want to change lanes, they have to, for a moment, take their eyes off the road and look in their mirror, and even over their shoulder into their blind spot. They have to trust that the vehicle operated by their hands will stay on course.

As I look back over the past year, I can see that there have been some great accomplishments and some very challenging times, as well. Sometimes they go hand in hand.

I love this story about Peter walking on the water with Jesus. First, he took the initiative — he asked Jesus to call him out on the water. Second, he acted on Jesus’ call. Third, he focused on Jesus while he acted in incredible faith to do something that was thought to be impossible. (If only the story stopped here, right?)

But then, he started to worry about the waves around him and doubted his ability to do the impossible thing he was called to do. And he started to sink.

Isn’t this so similar to our lives? I know I can relate. 1) Jesus shows us his power and his glory in life. 2) We are attracted to this and call out to him, “Call me to greatness too!” 3) We initially step out in faith and see success in doing things way out of our comfort zone. 4) But then we focus on the “waves” in life (the stress, the worry, the things we don’t have, the challenges, and what others may tell us). And we start to sink.

The good news is, Jesus is there to help us back into the boat. And he is there to help us build our faith up again and increase it. He did this with Peter and he will do it with you and I if we are faithful.

So in this new year of 2024, let us focus on our Savior Jesus when we are stepping out in faith and not our worldly waves that drag us down and take away our joy. Jesus can accomplish the impossible in our relationships, at work, in our homes, and in our world. We just have to look up and keep our eyes on him.

Lord, thank you for this great truth that if we stay focused on you and your Word and your ways, we will thrive spiritually. You showed this to Peter, and you are teaching it to us too. May I be focused on you, all throughout this year!