A Rebuke? or Disappointment

Have you ever tried to do something beyond anything you've ever done before, only to fail and be criticized by those who didn't even try?

I've always read the story of Peter stepping out of the boat in Matthew 14:24-33 with that context, struggling with the sharp rebuke Peter drew from Jesus while the other eleven sat comfortably, fearfully actually, in the boat... until this morning.

Reading it afresh this morning, I heard disappointment, no actually encouragement in Jesus' voice:

"You were so close, Peter! You almost had it!!"
"It was in your grasp, but you just took your eyes off the ball at the last second."
“You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

It's not a rebuke. It's the same encouragement we give to a little child trying to walk for the first time. Once they get it, there is no turning back! Peter was on the verge of a breakthrough, one that would have taken him to an entirely new level of living.

I've also always read this story as Jesus calling Peter out. Actually, Peter asked Jesus to invite him out!

“Lord, if it's you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”

As the winds and waves of the economic crisis buffet our boats, are we the terrified ones sitting in the boat? Or, are we willing to step out of that fear and have the Lord call us out to a new level of living?

In John 10:10, Jesus said: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Recently I heard it said that God won't do it for us, but will do it through us. For that, we need to ask Him to tell us to get out of the boat.