Matthew 14:31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

Several things stand out in this very dramatic story of walking on water. The first is the very obvious one that Jesus demonstrated who He was to His disciples pretty conclusively. That made it all the more shocking to them that He submitted to what was done to Him at His arrest, trial, and crucifixion, because they knew He could easily have avoided it. The second is that Peter recognized Jesus’ authority, to the point of believing that if Jesus commanded it, even he could walk on water. The third is that even that kind of faith is vulnerable to doubt when we look at our circumstances instead of at Jesus. The fourth is that Jesus desires for us faith that will not be shaken by circumstances. That last is what this verse is about. I hardly think Jesus was stern when He said this, but rather desirous of further growth in faith for Peter and the rest. The NIV does a disservice by changing Jesus’ question to past tense, because faith is always present tense. Yesterday’s faith won’t keep us today, and we haven’t tasted tomorrow’s faith yet. True faith is alive and growing, and as such needs to be fed and exercised daily. We feed our faith through the Word of God (Romans 10:17), and we exercise our faith by acting on it. I’m sure Peter’s faith grew quite a bit that night, even though Jesus chided him for not hanging onto it. The problem for most of us isn’t that we don’t have faith, it’s that we don’t act on the faith we have. Only when we act on it does faith go from our minds to our hearts, to have its full work in us.

This is something the Lord has spoken to me several times, and which I have tried to get through to the believers, but we all tend to be pretty dense! As Paul said, faith is indeed the great-shield with which we can quench every flaming arrow of the enemy. (Ephesians 6:16), but we’ve got to learn how to use it. James went to some length to point out that true faith is active, and John said much the same thing in his first letter. I have grown in faith over the years, but I am often reminded that I have plenty of room for more growth. I am to encourage faith in the believers, just as Jesus did, not putting them down for where they are now but helping them see where they can grow. Over the past several decades Word/Faith has become a distinct “brand” of Christianity, and as such there have been some real excesses. However, I’m not to throw out the good with the bad, but allow the Holy Spirit to show me what I should hang onto. (1 Thessalonians 5:21) I am not to seek faith for faith’s sake, but rather seek more and more of Christ, so that He may be manifested in me.

Father, thank You for the full day yesterday of encouraging people in faith. Part of that was in instructing people so that they would have content to their faith, and part of it was pointing out to someone how You had been and were working in their circumstances, so that the faith they had would be strengthened. I pray for each of them, and for all those under my care, that we would indeed receive the faith You have for us and exercise it fully, to grow and be and do as You desire, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!