Decision or Doubt

When Peter went down in the lake, the moment his feet sunk into the surf, Jesus perceived doubt. It should be easy to spot. It is the twin to fear. Fear alone did not sink Peter. It was fear that led to doubt that sunk him. The word Jesus used in Matthew 14:31 comes from duo meaning two. Peter was of two minds. His single-minded focus on Jesus when he got out of the boat shifted in flight like the luggage overhead. His eyes began to dart back and forth from Jesus to the wind and waves and back again. He was distracted. He was not sure. He wavered. He hesitated. Jesus knew when Peter's focus concentration was broken. This is the ADD of faith. We have trouble staying locked on with Jesus. Eye contact is hard to maintain. But, to Peter's credit the moment he began to sink he knew he lost it too, and he cried out, "Lord save me." It is a good thing Jesus did not lose his focus on Peter. "If the blind lead the blind they will both fall into a ditch" or sink into a lake.

Jesus and the New Testament writers use another word for doubt, diakrino, meaning to judge between or to be at variance with one's self. This is the debates that go on in our head. This is the voices we hear, pros and cons, this road or that road, yes or no. According to Matt.21:21 Jesus says this occurs in the heart. A divided heart is a doubting heart. Peter had a divided heart in regard to Cornelius the Gentile (Acts 10:20). God was telling him very plainly to go teach the Gentiles, but there were other thoughts in Peter's head. The text says he had "misgivings." He couldn't get the idea that was so ingrained from birth out of his thoughts, i.e. Gentiles are inferior to Jews and one must not socialize with them. Two thoughts: the command of God to go and the belief that he shouldn't. Peter was in the same place as when on the sea. He had the command of Jesus-Come, and the idea that men can't walk on water.

Abraham is our example. Romans 4:20 says that he did not waver in unbelief. God said he and Sarah would bear a son, and Abraham believed him. God said that through the seed of Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and Abraham believed him. Abraham faced the fact that he was too old to have a child, but instead of focusing on what was physically impossible he chose to focus on what God said. Isn't that always the choice of faith? Will I believe God or trust my own ideas?

James, the brother of Jesus, may have had the Peter episode in mind when he wrote in James 1:6-7 concerning asking for wisdom: "But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea and driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man expect he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." That was Peter on the lake. Instead of being sustained by faith in Jesus he was tossed and driven by the surf of the sea. He became unstable, and it was only when he refocused on Jesus that he was lifted up and brought back to the surface of the water to walk with Jesus to the boat.

Jude provides a fitting reminder for us. In verse 22 he tells us to have mercy on some who are doubting. And then he tells us to snatch others from the flames into which they are sinking. Just as Jesus snatched Peter from the sea so we are to pull others out of the fire. It is decision time. Will it be faith in Jesus or fear of the wind?