“只因见风甚大，就害怕。将要沉下去，便喊着说，主啊，救我。” - 太 14:30

周一晚上，我和妻子经常和一群人一起，在当地的一个马场里驾驭马拉车。当我坐在马车的座位上，拿着绳子，控制着马匹时，它看起来是如此单纯和自然。感觉我可以永远这样做。但是，当我停下来想一想我们在做什么——大而有力的马只用绳子相互绑住，拉着一辆几人乘坐的沉重马车——我就会感到害怕。然后我开始想到所有可能出错的事情，我就想马上跳下马车。当我不再关注我正在做的事情，把目光从目标上移开时，我就开始下沉，感到害怕。

彼得在水面上向耶稣走去。他正在做这件事! 接着他意识到他周围的一切。他把目光从耶稣身上移开，变得害怕，就开始下沉。

在我们的信仰之旅中，我们有多少次把目光从耶稣身上移开？我们很容易把注意力放在其他事情上，而忽略了耶稣是谁，以及祂对我们的计划是什么。然后，我们就像彼得一样，变得害怕，开始下沉。

然而，耶稣就在那里，在风暴中向我们伸出手来。即使在我们最深的恐惧中，祂也向我们伸出手来，抓住我们，把我们带回属于我们的地方。

祷告

救主上帝，当我们的目光离开你，开始下沉时，请伸出手来，抓住我们。平息我们的惧怕，把我们带回你身边。阿们。

马太福音 14:22-32

22耶稣随即催门徒上船，先渡到那边去，等他叫众人散开。
23散了众人以后，他就独自上山去祷告。到了晚上，只有他一人在那里。
24那时船在海中，因风不顺，被浪摇撼。
25夜里四更天，耶稣在海面上走，往门徒那里去。
26门徒看见他在海面上走，就惊慌了，说：“是个鬼怪！”便害怕，喊叫起来。
27耶稣连忙对他们说：“你们放心！是我，不要怕！”
28彼得说：“主，如果是你，请叫我从水面上走到你那里去。”
29耶稣说：“你来吧！”彼得就从船上下去，在水面上走，要到耶稣那里去。
30只因见风甚大，就害怕，将要沉下去，便喊着说：“主啊，救我！”
31耶稣赶紧伸手拉住他，说：“你这小信的人哪，为什么疑惑呢？”
32他们上了船，风就住了。

Eyes On Jesus

"But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!'" - Matthew 14:30

On Monday nights my wife and I often join with a group of people and drive harness horses at a local stable. When I’m in the seat of a wagon, holding the lines and controlling the horses, it seems so simple and natural. It feels like I could do it forever. But when I stop to think about what we are doing—with large, powerful horses tied only by straps to each other and pulling a heavy wagon that several people are riding in—I get scared. Then I start thinking about everything that could go wrong, and I want to get out of the wagon right away. When I stop focusing on what I’m doing and take my eyes off the goal, I start to sink and get afraid.

Peter was walking toward Jesus on the water. He was doing it! And then he realized what was going on around him. He took his eyes off Jesus, became afraid, and began to sink.

How often in our faith journey do we take our eyes off Jesus? We easily get focused on other things, and we lose sight of who Jesus is and what his plans for us are. And then we, like Peter, become afraid and begin to sink.

Jesus is there, though, reaching out to us in the middle of the storm. Even in our deepest fear, he reaches out to us, grabs hold of us, and brings us back to where we belong.

Prayer

Savior God, when we take our eyes off you and begin to sink, reach out and take hold of us. Calm our fears and bring us back to you. Amen.