Destroying the Fear Factor: Walking With Jesus Through Life's Storms

Walking With Jesus: Destroying the Fear Factor

The story of Jesus walking on water is one of the most familiar passages in Scripture. We've heard it countless times—Jesus defying the laws of physics, striding across the Sea of Galilee while His disciples huddle in their boat, terrified by the storm. But there's a detail in this story that often gets overshadowed by the miraculous image of Jesus on the waves: Peter walked on water too.
That's right. Jesus wasn't the only one who walked on water that night. A fisherman named Peter—impulsive, passionate Peter—actually stepped out of the boat and did the impossible. He didn't walk far, and he didn't walk perfectly, but he walked. And there's something profoundly important for us in that detail.

The Test We Keep Facing
Before we dive into Peter's water-walking adventure, let's rewind to Matthew chapter 8. In that earlier passage, Jesus sends His disciples across the same sea, in the same boat, into a similar storm. The difference? Jesus is physically in the boat with them, sound asleep. When the disciples panic and wake Him up—"Don't you care that we're going to die?"—Jesus calmly looks at the storm and speaks one word: "Shalom." Peace. Be still. The storm stops immediately.
Fast forward to Matthew 14. Between these two events, the disciples have witnessed incredible miracles. They've seen the dead raised, the sick healed, and just before our story begins, they've helped Jesus feed over 15,000 people with a few loaves and fish. Now Jesus sends them across the lake again. Same boat. Same sea. Another storm. But this time, Jesus isn't in the boat.
This is what we call a test.
Haven't we all experienced this? We learn something profound, go through a transformative experience, overcome a challenge—only to face a similar situation again soon after. Different circumstances, same lesson. It's like dating someone new only to discover it's "a different dog but the same fleas." Life keeps presenting us with the same tests until we actually pass them.
The test for the disciples was simple but profound: Could they stay calm knowing Jesus wouldn't put them in a situation that would destroy them? Could they trust beyond their fear?

The Paralysis of Fear
These disciples were professional fishermen. They'd navigated storms before. They knew these waters. Yet they were shaking in terror. When even the experts are afraid, you know the situation is serious—like when the flight attendant looks nervous during turbulence.
Fear has a peculiar power. It paralyzes us. The fear of failure—and in this case, failure would be fatal—manifests in two primary ways: either we can't start something we know we need to start (procrastination), or we can't finish something we've already begun (self-sabotage). Fear keeps us stuck in the boat.
Eleven of the twelve disciples remained frozen in place that night. And honestly, most of us would be among those eleven. The storm is raging. The waves are massive. The boat is being battered. Who in their right mind would get out?

Water Walking 101
But Peter saw something different. When Jesus came walking toward them across the water, the others thought they were seeing a ghost. Peter, however, recognized his Teacher. "Jesus, is that you?" he called out. And when Jesus confirmed it was Him, Peter made an audacious request: "Can I come out there with you?"

Jesus said one word: "Come."
And immediately—without hesitation—Peter jumped out of the boat.
Here's what we need to notice: As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, as long as he ignored the winds and waves, as long as he kept moving forward, he did not sink.
Let that sink in. A fisherman was walking on water. The impossible was happening. And it kept happening as long as three conditions were met:

1. Stay focused on the destination (Jesus)
2. Ignore the noise (the winds, the waves, the voices saying "you can't do this")
3. Keep moving forward (don't stop)

The winds and waves represent all the voices that tell us we're not enough—we're too old, too young, too inexperienced, too broken, too different. The haters. The doubters. The limiting beliefs. As long as Peter ignored all that noise and kept his eyes on Jesus, he defied gravity and walked on water.

When We Start to Sink
But then something shifted. Peter noticed the storm. He became aware of the impossibility of what he was doing. The Scripture says something fascinating: "he started to sink." Not that he immediately plunged beneath the waves, but that he started to sink—a gradual descent.
This tells us something beautiful: when we're on mission with God, even when we falter, even when we miss it, even when fear creeps back in, it's not meant to destroy us. We don't just drop like a stone. There's grace in the falling.
On his way down, Peter did two critical things we should all remember when we find ourselves sinking:
First, he asked for help. "Lord, save me!" The word used here is "sozo"—a rich word meaning save me, help me, heal me. Peter wasn't too proud to cry out. And notice: he asked for help from someone who could actually help. He didn't call to the other disciples still in the boat. He called to the One walking on water.
Second, he reached up. The text says Jesus "caught him by the hand," which means Peter extended his hand upward, giving Jesus something to work with. Even in our desperate moments, we need to give God something to work with—our time, our talent, our treasure, our trust, our hand reaching upward in faith.
Jesus immediately grabbed Peter and pulled him up. Then came the gentle rebuke: "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Walking With Jesus
Here's the detail most people miss: Peter and Jesus then had to walk back to the boat together. And there's no record of anyone sinking on the return journey. Why? Because walking toward Jesus is very different from walking with Jesus.
When Jesus is with you, the One who calms the storms is by your side. Your perspective changes. Your confidence grows. The same waves that terrified you moments ago become manageable when you're walking alongside the Master of wind and water.
This is the gospel we carry—not a distant God we're trying to reach, but Emmanuel, God with us. When we walk with Jesus, we carry His presence into every situation, every challenge, every storm.
Interestingly, this was the first time in Matthew's Gospel that the disciples declared, "Truly you are the Son of God." After all the miracles they'd witnessed, it took this moment—watching Peter walk and sink and be rescued—for them to fully recognize who Jesus was. Sometimes it's in our hardest moments, when everything seems to be falling apart and Jesus fishes us out of the deep, that we finally see Him clearly.

Don't Wait, Don't Stop, Don't Panic
So what do we do with this story? Three simple principles:
Don't wait. If you know Jesus is calling you to something, get out of the boat. Stop making excuses. Stop waiting for perfect conditions. The water won't get any less wet, and the storm won't get any less scary. Step out in faith.
Don't stop. Keep moving forward. Keep inviting people into relationship with Jesus. Keep serving. Keep loving. Keep growing. If something doesn't work, try again. And again. Don't let temporary setbacks stop your forward momentum.
Don't panic. When you mess up—and you will—don't panic. Ask for help. Reach up your hand. Give Jesus something to work with. He's right there, ready to pull you up, steady you, and walk with you back to solid ground.
The old hymn says it perfectly: "I want Jesus to walk with me, all along this pilgrim journey." Not just ahead of us, showing the way. Not just behind us, watching over us. With us—step by step, through calm seas and raging storms alike.
You are significant because God says so. You were created to do significant things. And the One who walks on water is inviting you to join Him—not just to reach toward Him from the safety of the boat, but to step out onto the impossible and discover that with Jesus, you can do far more than you ever imagined.
The question is simple: Will you get out of the boat?