Walking on Water: Overcoming Doubt and Fear through Jesus Christ

In the Book of Matthew, it recounts the story of Jesus walking on water.  Jesus’s disciples were headed across the Sea of Galilee when they encountered a fierce wind that kept them paddling without progress for most of the night.  Suddenly, they saw a figure walking on water towards them.  Surprisingly, after the mysterious being identified himself as Jesus, Peter made the remarkable claim: “ Lord, if it be thou, bid thee come unto thee on the water.  And Jesus saith unto Him, “Come.”" (Matt. 14: 28-29).  

Most Latter-day Saints and other students of the Bible are probably familiar with how Peter actually was able to walk on water for a time. Think about that for a moment! Peter, this bold fisherman, who knew well enough that people don’t normally float in water, and who was now facing massive wind-driven waves in his path, actually had the faith and trust in Christ to walk on water.  He was committed to follow the Savior, even to the point that he did what for most people would be impossible.  Then, just as he was making progress, "he saw the wind boisterous” and “he was afraid, and beginning to sink” (Matthew 14:24-30).

I feel like many modern-disciples of Christ are similar to Peter in a way.  Those who have experienced a “mighty change in [our] hearts” (Alma 5 and have felt of the Savior’s love and forgiveness have felt strong desires to do the Lord’s will and have even seen him do things with us and make changes with us that we didn’t know were possible.  I know that I have felt this way multiple times in my life.  We want to follow the Savior and feel like we can accomplish the impossible.  However, in the midst of our trials, just as we are starting to change and to make progress, many of us let ourselves become distracted and let doubts and fears keep us from trusting in the Savior?  We may feel inadequate, afraid of what other people will think of us, or discouraged with our progress.  We may have fear or even question if God really loves us or if He will keep His promises with us.  As President Hinckley commented, we can also feel “fear of the future” “fear of loneliness”, or any number of things that make us forget our commitments with God.

However, no matter our fears, I know that as we turn to the Lord and call for him for mercy and strength, he will reach out for us.  Just as Jesus “immediately… stretched forth his hand, and caught [Peter] as he was drowning and called to Him (vs. 31), I know that he can catch us and help us to overcome our fears.  As we look to the Savior and trust in Him, no matter what our fears, he can help us to rise up and continue to reach our “impossible” goals.