Peter sinks.

And in the fourth watch [between 3:00--6:00 a.m.] of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they screamed out with fright. But instantly He spoke to them, saying, Take courage! I AM! Stop being afraid! 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 he came toward Jesus. But when he perceived and felt the strong wind, he was frightened, and as he began to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me [from death]! Instantly Jesus reached out His hand and caught and held him, saying to him, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:25-31)

I've heard this story many times, ever since I was a little girl, but recently, God showed it to me in a way I've never seen it before. I've often admired Peter, and wondered at him at the same time. He seems to me to be a little impulsive, maybe reckless. He seems bold and outspoken, sometimes when it's quite clear that he would be best to keep his mouth shut. And still, he had a special place in Jesus' heart. I think maybe because of all the men in the boat, Peter was the only one who dared to get up and get out of the boat. He had moments of brilliant faith - this being one of them.

But, look what happens to him immediately following his amazing exhibition of faith. He sinks. This was the focus of my most recent pass through Matthew 14. Peter sinks. Why does a man so full of faith in one moment sink in the next? Well, the passage tells us he felt the strong wind, the waves crashing around him, and he was afraid. Yeah, that makes sense I guess. I can understand fear in the middle of a storm on the sea. But does it really make sense? Nothing in his outer circumstances changed from the time he stepped out of the boat to the time he began to sink. The wind was blowing, the waves were crashing, the boat was tossing. The scriptures indicate nothing new in his outer circumstances to cause this surge of fear.

So what was at the root of it? Look what Jesus says: 'Why did you doubt?' What was it that Peter doubted? Did he doubt that he, Peter, was capable of walking on water or that he would be able to withstand the opposition coming against him? Probably, but those same doubts would have been present before he stepped out of the boat, and so shouldn't have made a difference in his success or failure. Ultimately, Peter had to have doubted Jesus. He had to have doubted either His ability or His willingness to hold him up - to support him in doing what He had asked of Peter. If Peter's faith in Jesus had been in tact, the other issues would have been irrelevant to him. It wouldn't have mattered if he alone were incapable. Trusting that Jesus was capable would have been sufficient.

Well, knowing WHAT Peter doubted, the next question would be WHY did Peter doubt. I mean, Peter knew Jesus personally. He knew what Jesus was capable of - knew His full strength and ability and power and love. Peter also knew that it was, in fact, Jesus standing before him on the water. He also knew it was Jesus' will for Peter to step out of the boat - he knew because he had asked and Jesus answered. So if he knew that it was Jesus, and he knew who Jesus was, and he knew that he was doing what Jesus was asking of him, why did Peter doubt? Why did he fall?

Because his head overrode his faith. His head told him it was impossible, even though his heart, his faith, only a moment before had been so certain. His head told him his circumstances were too big to trust to Jesus. The instant he doubted, he failed. He was defeated at the task he had set out to do.

I think this is just one Biblical example of what happens to us all the time. Our minds are being constantly bombarded with questions, doubts, half-truths, and outright lies. We have to make our minds up daily (sometimes hundreds of times a day) what we believe. Allowing doubt to override faith is a quick way to be defeated. Like Peter, once our doubts take control of our thoughts, our faith is deactivated, and we sink.