Sprout: 21 Days for the Fruit of the Spirit to Bloom in Your LifeSample

An Invitation

By Zac Rowe

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. —Isaiah 26:3 ESV

Wind whips through Peter’s salty, sea-soaked hair as he squints out into the dark, stormy night. Clinging to the edge of the boat for balance as another murky wave comes crashing over the side, he ignores the whispers of “Ghost!” from his friends on the ship with him and calls out to the figure standing on the waves: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water” (Matthew 14:28 ESV). As Peter strains to hear a response over the boat’s creaking protests, the raging wind carries back an invitation: “Come” (v. 29).

Imagine that moment of decision—the exact moment when Peter chooses to let go of what he knew about reality and step into a new one. Years of experience as a fisherman had solidified in his mind the scientific truth that man cannot walk on water, and yet here was evidence to the contrary. In this moment, I imagine Peter closing his eyes to the rain and wind. As he considers all the things he’s seen the Master do, a strange sense of peace comes over his mind. Firm and immovable as an anchor, this peace holds strong as Peter opens his eyes and steps over the side of the boat into the unknown.

It’s important for us to remember that Peter wasn’t aware at the time that every child in Sunday school would be taught this story while eating cheesy Goldfish crackers for millennia to come. He didn’t know he was living “Matthew 14:22–33” or have the benefit of the caption “Jesus Walks on the Water” glowing in neon lights over the black surging sea. All he knew as the waves beat against the ship was that they were trying their best to drag him into the depths below. Peter had to make his decision not based on evidence in the natural but on an invitation by the Spirit.

We know the story. Peter steps out onto the water and, defying the understood laws of the natural world, walks on the surface of the waves toward Jesus. For those brief, miraculous moments, faith was the only substance beneath his feet.

Today, you and I face our own dark nights—times when following the Lord in obedience leads us into a storm. It’s easy to misinterpret dark, stormy seasons of our lives as punishment or rebuke, but just before Peter walked on the water, the Bible says Jesus “made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side” (v. 22). Maybe the storms we walk through are less about limitation and more an invitation—an open door into a new, greater reality with Jesus. As we consider this invitation, it should be noted it is accompanied by a peace that is only known “beyond understanding.” The end of our ability to comprehend is not the end of God’s ability to carry on in power. When we find ourselves facing situations we’ve never walked through and trials like oceans in our way, peace is both the guide and the guard for our hearts and minds.

Merriam-Webster defines peace as “freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions.” [1] According to Philippians 4:7, God’s peace acts like a shield. It stands in the way of the attacks of the enemy when he tries to assault our minds with anxiety and worry for the future. Against all the natural evidence we might muster up as we look at the storm in front of us, peace comes like a heavenly shield through the clarity and calmness of trust.

You see, peace is intimately interwoven with trust. How can we face a difficult time in our lives, like the uncertainty and pain of losing a loved one or the difficulty of changing seasons, and still have any sense of peace at all? Peace comes because we trust in God’s power, presence, and proficiency in working it all out for good. He’s currently working on whatever is burdening you, and He doesn’t need any help finishing the job.

Just as Peter stood on the precipice of one reality, hearing an invitation into another, you and I stand today at the edge of whatever issue is facing us with the invitation to trust God and take Him at His word. As we trust Him, we’ll experience that miraculous feeling of walking on the waves of faith and trust as we journey on toward the prize of Jesus.

[1] Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “peace,” accessed September 1, 2022.

Prayer

God, we honor Your great power over all things. We have witnessed Your authority to speak to the wind and waves of our lives and have seen them obey Your command to be still. Today, until You speak those words and bring whatever is facing us to stillness, teach us to trust You and Your process. You are worthy to be praised and worthy to be trusted. We put all our hope in You alone. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

For Further Reflection

Imagine a hand that’s been balled into a fist. As an act of your will, now picture that hand opening up as you release every tie to worry, anxiety, fear, unbelief, and the stress that you’ve been gripping so tightly. See the cords of those negative things falling like strings through your fingertips as you raise your eyes and hands to reach again toward Jesus.