He Still Reached Out

 Peter hopped out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. He had asked, "If it's really You, ask me to come, and I'm on my way!" Jesus told him to come on! Peter hops out and starts walking on the water, but he took his eyes off of Jesus and shifted his focus to the storm that was blowing and a'goin' all around him. He began to sink.

We've used this as a life lesson a lot, and it sure pertains to caregivers. We all do much better, no matter what is going on all around us, as long as we keep our eyes on Him. The storms of life can rock our boat, toss us to and fro, and have us scared out of our wits. Keeping our eyes on Him, may not stop the boat from rocking or the storm from blowing, but it sure can keep peace in our souls. 

We usually commend Peter for jumping out in faith, right? And we should! But as I read through this familiar story once again this morning, I thought of a couple of other things. It's stormy. It's dark. Peter did get to walk on the water, no matter how far that measured in real life. But when he began to sink, Jesus had no condemnation or judgment. He just reached out his hand to Peter. 

Jesus could have mentioned that Peter walked on water as long as he stayed focused on the Prince of Peace. He could have condemned Peter for getting distracted in the middle of such a monumental faith-filled moment. He could have laughed and told Peter that he better learn how to swim fast! But He did not. He reached out his hand to a sinking Peter and He put him back in the boat.

I LOVE this about God. He doesn't condemn us in our faithless moments. He reaches for us. 

He doesn't have any judgment for the situations we get ourselves into. He reaches for us.

He doesn't "should" on us (you should have stayed in the boat, or you should have checked your faith level before you jumped.") He just reaches for us and rescues our souls.

Sometimes, as caregivers, we find ourselves in dark, stormy situations. How many times have we jumped out of our "boats" in faith only to find that we somehow failed, fell, or faltered? There are times I think if I have enough faith the storm will go away and the dark will become light. Jesus didn't calm the storm before He asked Peter to come to Him. Peter had to jump into the water while the storm was blowing, and it was too dark to see out on that sea. But in the middle of it all, He reached out His hand.

Today, I will remind myself that God's hand can reach me no matter how troubled life's sea is or how dark it may seem. He may not calm the storm first, but He will reach into my darkness and pull me out to soul safety. No matter what is going on around me or in me, today, I will look for His outstretched hand. I know I can trust Him for one more day. Will you join me?

Check out my latest release. Command Your Morning is a 31-day devotional that is focused on taking charge of your soul and day in the morning and trusting God that the rest of the day will follow suit! You can get the eBook from my shop at Buy Me A Coffee. Or the print and Kindle versions are now available in my Amazon Shop.