Peter’s Doubt! Is doubt a good thing? Sunday Wisdom

In this story of Jesus and Peter walking on water, I think it is important to note that the story comes immediately after the feeding of the 5000. So one might ask, how on earth could Peter doubt after such a miracle? Did Peter really doubt Jesus or was the doubt within himself? Did Peter doubt or was he just afraid. Was Peter testing Jesus when he said “Lord if it is really you” or was he just asking for a sign?

Peter obviously trusted Jesus or he would never have stepped outside the boat. We trust Jesus as well, but sometimes it would be nice to have a sign.
Sometimes we need to doubt so that we can increase our faith. Bad things happen to good people and accepting it all with joy is hard. We cannot do it alone. We need His grace.

I think it is interesting to note that as long as Peter remained focused on Jesus he was calm, and once the distraction of the storms upon him, he began to sink. It appears as though Peter lost faith, but did he really or was he just afraid? How often have we allowed fear to keep us from moving forward, or moving at all?

There are times in our life when we lose focus and become discouraged, but that does not mean we have lost faith. Peter realized he was sinking and immediately called out in a panic, “Lord, save me.” And what did Jesus do, He immediately reached out His hand and rescued Peter. The same goes for us. Jesus is always waiting to meet us wherever we are, but we do need to cry out.

When Jesus challenges Peter for having little faith, it was not a rebuke, but an invitation to go deeper, to have more faith and increase his trust in what he already knew. So go ahead and ask questions and if needed doubt things you do not understand, but let us always keep our focus on Jesus in the present moment because He will never abandon us.

This gospel is a simple reminder to all of us that no matter what storms hit our lives the glorious truth is that Jesus is in the midst of our storms. All we need to do is cry out.