An Outstretched Hand

“Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’”  This line struck me when reading Tuesday’s (8/2) Gospel.  I remember this gospel passage where Jesus walks on water coming to life for me back in elementary school, at the summer vacation bible school that took place each summer at one of the local Catholic churches.  Since then, it has remained one of my favorite passages in scripture.  When we read a particular passage over and over, something different can strike us each time or we can gain a new perspective on the words we are reading.  How often do we doubt that Jesus is right there with us?  Do we fully trust that he will always catch us? 

In the passage, Jesus commands Peter to come to Him on the water.  And He does the same to each and every one of us.  Through the joys, sorrows, good times, and hardships, he calls us to come to Him.  He asks that we come to Him with everything and trust Him with it all.  But in our weakness, our trust may waver at times.  And when this happens, doubts may sneak in and fear may overtake our faith.  In these times, we must trust that Jesus will stretch out his hand and catch us.  We cannot put our trust in things of this word because we will always be let down and we will sink.

None of us are promised a life without suffering and challenges.  In fact, we will all go through waves and stormy waters.  There is no way around the storms.  Our only option is to go through them.  Sometimes, Jesus will calm the storms and make them go away.  Other times, he will not.  However, every single time, he will stretch out his hand and help us walk through them and He will be there, whenever we call out to Him.

Jesus deeply longs for us to trust him without any limitations.  We can see this when he asks, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  More than anything, He wants us to fully believe that He will never leave us and never let us drown.  As Christians, we are not immune from moments of fear and other weaknesses.  However, the key is to focus on our faith and keep our eyes on Jesus.  When we become distracted, we must call out to Him to save us, because nothing else in this world will.
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The depth of our faith and trust in Jesus is what allows us to step out of the boat, out of our comfort zones, and through the waves, wind, and storms, walking closer to Him.  Jesus is stretching out His hand, always ready to catch you.  Do you trust Him?