Walking on water - thoughts from Matthew 14

Image copyright Ian Ho 2010

Was at Lower Seletar Reservoir last night shooting with Kelvin. Climbed over a fence illegally, cautiously threaded my way through the floating plank in trepidation and then firmly planted my tripod down and froze there during the 4 plus minute exposure.

Before I pressed the shutter I already knew what this photo was going to be about. I wanted it to be about faith, and the story that immediately came to mind was Matthew 14 about Jesus walking on water. Haha and so coincidentally there was also a boat in the scene (top left)!

Matthew 14 is an interesting passage which reflects on the way our faith is with God many times. Here's the passage from The Message translation:

As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.
Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. "A ghost!" they said, crying out in terror.
But Jesus was quick to comfort them. "Courage, it's me. Don't be afraid."
Peter, suddenly bold, said, "Master, if it's really you, call me to come to you on the water."
He said, "Come ahead."
Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, "Master, save me!"
Jesus didn't hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, "Faint-heart, what got into you?"
The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, "This is it! You are God's Son for sure!"

When I study Peter's conversation with Jesus as he stepped out of the boat to walk on the water, I realise how it resembles my walk with Jesus at times. The first sentence that struck me was "Jesus came toward them walking on the water". Many times Jesus is the one that comes to us in our time of need, He has taken that 99 steps to reach us and we only need to take that 1 step, not the other way around. He's closer than we imagine.

Then Peter thought he saw a ghost and he said Jesus if it's really you, then call me to come to you. Sometimes we're like that too. When Jesus is near to us, we still doubt if it's really Him or not and we ask for confirmation. Next Peter jumps out of the boat, looks at the waves churning beneath his feat and started to get frightened. Aren't we like that? Sometimes when I step out of my boat to follow Jesus, self-doubt and fear fills me and I look at my circumstance and I say I can't do it, Jesus help me!

But the next part is the most amazing. Verse 31 says, and Jesus DIDN'T HESITATE! He reached down, grabbed Peter's hand and said "faint-heart, what got into you?" I'm like that many times, weak in my faith, but the baffling thing is that He never hesitates to be there to help me up. And in the end like how the disciples saw the whole incident and then worshipped Jesus, we too come to a deeper relationship with God whenever we walk on the water. And I've learnt it only takes one thing to walk on water (i.e. do the humanly impossible) - faith.