Lent: Journey Through the Holy Land – Part 24

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, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Matthew 14: 28-33

When I think about the Sea of Galilee, I immediately think of two stories. The first, when Jesus calms the sea, which we talked about in part 20, and second, when Jesus walks on water.

On the northern end of the Galilee, there didn’t appear to be many places that you could just walk out onto the water. Most areas were either grown with trees and grasses, or there was a rocky drop off into the water.

At one of our stops, we were able to walk out level with the sea. We were blessed to be the only one’s in this area at the time and we could take in the Galilee and walk into the water.

Now this wasn’t like Peter walking on the water – but still! We were able to stand in the waters upon which Jesus had walked. Later that afternoon, we were able to enjoy the Galilee on a boat ride.

We all boarded a wooden boat, ready to depart across the Galilee. As we slowly made our way out, Mike pointed out the various places we had visited earlier in the day – Capernaum, Tabgha, the Primacy of Peter, Mount of Beatitudes, Magdala, and the Valley of the Doves. Seeing it all from the middle of the Galilee put everything into perspective.

A lot of the 3 years of Jesus’ ministry were spent in an area of approximately 13 miles. How incredible.

We paused and Matt read the story of Jesus and his disciples on the raging sea. He talks about the seas we may face. He shared “There’s a Peace I’ve Come to Know.” It was even more powerful here than it had been before. We joined together in “Holy, Holy Holy” and “Great is Thy Faithfulness.”

It was a beautiful moment of worship in a wooden boat, on the Sea of Galilee.

October 23, 2019

More times than I’d like to admit, in my faith, I am like the Peter who tried to walk on water. I’ll be so focused on my faith and trust in God’s plan. I’ll make time to talk with God and grow closer to Him. But then something happens in the world around me and I become distracted. I lose focus on God and spiral in anxiety and fear, often losing hope of a better tomorrow. Often, I find God looking to me, saying

“You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

It’s like He’s saying, “You know I’m here. I’m right next to you. We talked just yesterday, or this morning, or 10 minutes ago. You know who I am. You know I love you. My child, why did you turn away?”

It makes me think of losing your parents in the grocery store. You turn around to look at something on the shelf and they’re telling you to keep moving or that we’re going to get cereal next, and when you realize that you aren’t focusing in on what they’re saying, they’re gone.

They’re never actually gone – it just feels like they’re gone. In fact this happened to me this evening – yes, at 26 I still lose my parents in the grocery store! In the chaos of all the shoppers I lost them. Aisles were crowded, shelves were cleared and no matter which way I looked, I couldn’t find them. Panic ensued. I don’t know why I was panicking – maybe it was the busyness around me, the anxiety of not getting what I needed, the overwhelming panic of those around me.

Eventually I found my mom in the cheese aisle. And when I looked at her, I thought to myself,

Why are you worried?

You know she’s not going to leave you. Besides, you drove your own car here. It’s all going to be okay.

Isn’t that what Jesus is telling Peter? “Why did you doubt? Why are you worried that I’m going to leave you? That I’m not going to be there for you? That I’m not with you?”

I have to remind myself that God is in control. That he can do far more than anything I could ever ask of him or imagine he could do. I have to focus on trusting in him and relying on him.

Because he won’t leave me, he’s always with me.

I wanted to change up today’s prayer. Prayer can come in so many different forms, and I wanted to explore that – especially since I figured out how to share this with you! I’ve linked below “There’s a Peace I’ve Come to Know” that Matt shared with us on the boat from Resurrection Downtown’s Facebook page.

Amen! Praying for you all!

Abbey Jo