Matthew 14:32  When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. (NLT)

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Matthew 14:22-33 tells the fuller story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water. Compared to Jesus, Peter was all wet. Compared to the other disciples, Peter boldly set out on a path no one else had ever mastered. 

This part of the story is fairly familiar even to those who don’t spend much time reading and studying the Bible. Careful readers notice verse 32. “When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.”

In the other adventures with wind and waves recorded in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), we see Jesus and the disciples in stormy weather of both natural and supernatural origin. Here, it appears Jesus was the initiator of the wind and waves. He placed his disciples in rough water.

Look back to verses 22 and following. Jesus went into the hills alone to pray. He sent the disciples across the lake in a boat. Verse 24 says, 

“Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves.”

Jesus watched for a long time. It was around 3 AM when he took his refreshing walk on the waves. This terrified the disciples. It was like something right out of a ghost story. Better than a ghost story with its conclusions that we are all afraid of something, and that some things are worth being afraid of (powerful winds and big waves among them), Jesus faced into the wind and danced atop the cresting waves. 

I wonder if Peter asked to join Jesus because it looked like Jesus was having a good time? Did he laugh as he leapt? Did he run toward the boys in the boat?

“When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.”

The Berenstain Bears book series includes one about learning to ride a bicycle. The little boy bear wants to give it a try. Papa Bear says, 

Not yet, not yet, not yet, my son.
First come the lessons,
Then comes the fun!

Peter and his dryer companions learned a lot that night. One of those lessons is that sometimes, Jesus makes the wind blow against us. He does so not to harm us, but to grow us. Not to terrify us, but to help us see how much we really trust him. 

What stretch events have you lived through? 

How have they prepared you for something that came later? 

How will you manage your next big adventure as Jesus uses uncomfortable pressure to prepare you to overcome your next extremity? 

The Bike Lesson put Papa Bear through some uncomfortable moments. These helped his son learn how to master his own moments on two wheels.

Sometimes the wind blows on purpose at God’s direction. Sometimes the wind blows because of our adversary. (See Job 1.) Sometimes we win, and sometimes we learn. It’s good to prepare for each of these possibilities. It’s even better to trust God from the bottom of your heart, no matter which kind of wind is blowing. (See Proverbs 3:5, 6.)

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I will lean into the wind with Jesus.

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Our Father, thank you for lessons learned. Thank you for continuing to instruct us. Thank you for rescuing us. Thank you for growing us in faith. Thank you for being trustworthy no matter how the wind blows. Amen.