Nougat 4

I sometimes marveled at the ‘audacity’ of avowed non-believers who’d ‘call God’s name in vain’ in fright or surprise. It went against the grain of my logic to hear them call out Jesus. Once, I confronted a self proclaimed atheist about it. The response was that it was reflexes, from the training as a child and there was no expectation of divine intervention. Furthermore, the person noted, it’s what Christians do with no expectation of a response.

The response stung, and I had zero comeback, as it sounded a bit close to home. Reading the passage surrounding today’s Holy Nougat brought that conversation to mind.

“Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭14‬:‭31‬ ‭NLT‬‬

IT’S A MATTER OF FAITH

Many of us are familiar with Peter’s walking on water moment. Jesus separated Himself from the disciples and went to pray. Early in the morning, at approximately 3 AM, the disciples met problems at sea. They were petrified! (All puns intended, as petrified means terrified to the point of being like stone and Peter means stone).

Their fear is understandable – it is said that though comprising many fishermen, the disciples were not swimmers. Compounding their fear was the sudden appearance of a person walking atop the waves. My surfer friends might say ‘Kool’ or something similar; but surfing wasn’t a thing in their time – it had to be a ‘duppy or a gunman’ (a ghost). The problem, if the storm was waging as described, even a swimmer would have nowhere to escape that spirit. Worse, it might have been the angel of death ushering them over to Sheol. Thoughts of the absent Jesus never crossed their minds! Not even when Jesus had spoken

Fear dominated.

Peter voiced what others might have thought. If you really are Jesus, rescue me. Peter forgot about his companions. He was seeking his own salvation. Ironically, even when Jesus complied to Peter’s demands, Peter was still dominated by Fear! He took his eyes off Jesus and his circumstances overwhelmed him. He cried out to Jesus once again, revealing his moment of unbelief.

Jesus’ response takes me back to my friend’s comment. For that moment of doubt was like calling Jesus’ name in vain – it was a cry with little/no expectation of Jesus coming through. Aren’t we also guilty of going through the motions of calling on Jesus, while making contingency plans (implicitly suggesting ‘if Jesus doesn’t come through’)? How often does Jesus have to say to us, ’You have so little faith. Why did you doubt me?’, before we trust Him to truly be present?

Remember, Jesus *was not with them* when the storm started. He was elsewhere praying. In their moment, they did not expect Jesus to come through; so He could have left them to flounder and started anew with folks who believed Him.

But Jesus didn’t

Jesus rushed to their rescue, conserving time by walking on water to assuage their panic. He was that invested in their welfare.

Just as He is with ours. Whether we believe or not. I pray God’s blessings as we begin to walk in faith, when sight discourages our belief.

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May all we seek be found in Christ