Matthew 14:27

New International Version

But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

For Encouragement

He sent them out while He went to pray. All the time, His eyes were on them, though they did not know it (Matt. 14:22-27). In the quiet of His retreat, Jesus prayed for them, too. The disciples strained at the oars, pressed by a strong wind of hurricane force. Death seemed their reality. At the darkest hour of their struggle for their lives, Jesus stepped from His mountainside retreat toward them. Though away from them in prayer, the Master’s eyes never left His struggling disciples. And why should He, since He sent them? The disciples would soon learn the lesson all His disciples today must learn: that Jesus is always ready to enter their struggles. They thought, as we all do when battered by a constant wave of suffering, that Jesus had thrown them into their pain and deserted them. What a childish thought! How ignorant!

Left with no boat to ride, His divine nature took over. The raging sea became His Broadway to Jesus’ struggling disciples; His steps steady and authoritative. He who made the sea walked on water as on a hard surface in the wee hours of the morning.

It is a ghost; the disciples screamed. 

The mist blurred their vision, and all they could see was a figure like a ghost walking toward them. Fear won the battle against courage. The Master had come, just as He aptly comes every day to rescue His afflicted, but they did not recognize Him.

Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.

Pause here, friend, and let it sink in. Have you heard this voice before in your conflicted situation? How did it sound to you?

Jesus knew the disciples’ courage had left as fear gained the upper hand, so His first word to them was “Courage!” Many saints, like Joshua (Jos. 1:6, 7), have heard that word before when fear gripped them. It is a divine command to gather your mind and wits when faced with difficulty, standing on the reality and power of God. Do you hear Him in your situation this morning? And lest they had any doubt about who commanded, Jesus said, It is I. Does it sound familiar?

It is the voice of Yahweh! Self-existent, eternal God, yet relational and faithful. He is the covenant-keeping God. Sovereign King and Ruler of all creation. He who called everything seen and unseen into being—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did (Rom. 4:17 NKJV). He rides across the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty (Deut. 33:26; Psa. 68:4, 33; 104:3). What else do you need to fear as He comes into your dead situation today?

So, take courage, dear friend, in the crucible of life. Don’t be afraid. For Jesus, your Savior and Lord, has come to your rescue. Let your storm test your faith, hard and cruel as it may be, but never forget that Jesus is with you throughout. (To be continued).

Pray with Me

Thank you, my sympathetic Savior, that even when I think you are too far to care as I drown, you are interceding for me in heaven and ride the winds to my rescue in surprising ways. Strengthen my wobbly faith today in your mighty name. Amen.

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