What Are You Focused On?
“And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” Matthew 14: 28 – 31
Do you ever walk into the kitchen and then forget why you walked into the kitchen? Did you come to get a snack out of the fridge or was it to unload the dishwasher? You walk out of the kitchen doing neither. There are so many things that distract us and pull our focus away. When you lose focus it can be easy to forget what you’re doing. This is what happens to Peter when Jesus calls him out onto the water.
First, imagine how incredible it must seem to Peter that he is walking on water! Next note that when he first steps out of the boat his focus is on Jesus. It is Jesus who calls him out of the boat and when Peter is focused on Jesus he walks on water. However we see that when the wind comes and Peter turns his focus away from Jesus and onto the wind he begins to sink.
In this story it is his fear that pulls Peter’s focus away from Jesus and causes him to sink. Many times we are like Peter, we let things in the world distract us from Jesus. We can let fears prevent us from enjoying activities or we can let other peoples’ opinions define us. All of these distractions turn us away from Jesus.
What is pulling your focus away from Jesus? Instead of allowing yourself to sink, refocus your attention and life back on Jesus. He is reaching out to you if you feel like you are sinking, and is ready to catch you.