My wise wife recently recommended a book to me. It is called To Whom Shall We Go by Cardinal Timothy Dolan. It’s one of her favourites.
The book is a series of reflections on key events and encounters between St Peter and Jesus in the Gospels. He is a weak man who, at times, gets it dreadfully wrong, like denying Jesus (Matt 26:69-74), and a strong man who gets it right, like converting three thousand in a single sermon! (Acts 2:41). St Peter is a bit like all of us, right? There are moments when we seem to get it right and moments when we cringe at how badly we can get it wrong. When we get it wrong, we must not despair as Judas did but turn to repentance as Peter did (John 21:15-21).
There is hope for you and me then!
St Peter is the one who called out to Jesus from the boat, asking, “Lord, if it is you, bid me to come to you on the water” (Matt 14:28). Jesus’ answer was, “Come, Peter.”
Miraculously, Peter walked on the water. However, at the sight of the wind and waves, fear wells up within Peter. He takes his eyes off Jesus and begins to sink. He cries out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” Jesus extends his hand and grabs Peter, leading him safely into the boat. Jesus then says, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
What a simple yet profound lesson for all of us! The wind and the waves resemble the cares of the world, and the moment we get fixated on problems in the church or the world, get angry over what someone did or said about us, worry about money, or pursue wealth, status, fame, etc., we lose sight of the things that matter. We will sink. The cares of the world lead to anxiety and a cold faith that diminishes over time.
Instead, never take your eyes off Jesus! No matter what. I don’t care how bad things get, how scary things may seem, how hard your situation might seem, how dark the darkness around you seems to be, or how distant God may feel—if you have faith that Jesus sees you and loves you, He will never let you sink!
I hate it when people try to label radical trust in God as having your head in the sand. I am not saying you should pretend problems don’t exist. They do. But worrying about them versus surrendering them to Jesus, trusting He will resolve them, are two very different things.
Fix your gaze on Jesus, and no matter how strong the wind is around you, or how high the waves are over you, do not take your eyes off Him!
