President Boyd K. Packer
The story of Jesus Christ walking on the water and bidding Peter to come to him is often one used to illustrate faith, or the lack thereof, fear & doubt. To me now it is a story of patience.
In Matthew chapter 14 Jesus had just performed the miracle of feeding 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes. It was just past supper time, approximately 6pm, and he told his disciples to go ahead of him, to the other side of the Sea of Galilee where he would meet them later. Being fishermen they loaded into a boat to set sail across the sea and because of the threat of Greeks and Romans they took turns being on military "watch" through out the night. These watches were divided up into four 3-hour segments. At some point during the first watch a storm arose and the ship was in the middle of the sea "tossed with waves because the wind was contrary." Imagine, these fishermen struggling, "toiling" to keep their boat afloat. Being beaten with driving rain and gushing wind--I dare think their adrenaline was running high and that possibly, at times, they were afraid. Imagine them struggling like this for six to nine hours, exhausted. I think it's plausible that they cried out to their Lord. They knew him, served him, loved him. Why then did Christ not come to them until the "fourth watch of the night" (sometime between 3-6am)?
To teach them patience.
We've all heard "Patience is a virtue". It indeed plays a refining role in preparing us for future weight and responsibility. It humbles us. Take Job for example--he was blessed with great wealth and abundant riches then stripped of those riches, his health and his family and encouraged to curse God. He did not. Patience teaches us obedience; it tries us and proves us to Heavenly Father. Joseph Smith had to wait three years, being ridiculed for his beliefs, before he could start his work. The key to patience is faith. Faith in Heavenly Father, faith in Jesus Christ, faith in yourself. God said to Isaiah "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.....my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9) So, I don't know, maybe the story is about faith after all.
The lesson to learn from this story is NOT that we struggle (sometimes with no end in sight) but that Christ comes to us. How often do we, myself included especially, give up faith, give up an opportunity to learn and grow because we're tired or scared or just plain lazy? We stop crying out to Him early on, we stop keeping "watch" during those early hours in our trials and give into the temptation to lose faith. We need to have patience. We need to remember that He comes, most often in the "fourth watch" of our trials, but He comes! My favorite part is at the end of the scripture when Christ walks on the water toward his disciples and said:
"Be of good cheer; it is I, be not afraid."
reaction to the Puppy-in-my-pocket gift.
