Walking by Faith: What We Can Learn from Matthew 14

Faith is essential to our Christian life. After all, 2 Corinthians 5:7 states that we believers “walk by faith, not by appearance”—that is, not by what we see in our environment or circumstances. 

But when we’re facing difficulties, we may find it hard to put our trust in God and feel we don’t have enough faith to sustain us. When we find ourselves in this condition, what do we do? How can we practically walk by faith?

Today, we’ll focus on Matthew 14 with some accompanying footnotes in the New Testament Recovery Version to see what it means to walk by faith.

Peter’s experience

The Bible doesn’t just speak about faith in general terms. It shows us what faith looks like in real life. For example, one of the clearest accounts is found in Peter’s experience of walking on the water in Matthew 14:22-33.

After the miracle of feeding the five thousand, Jesus compelled His disciples to get into a boat and go before Him to the other side of the sea. Then He went up to the mountain alone to pray to the Father. During the night, strong winds blew, and waves battered the boat the disciples were in. That’s when Jesus came to them, walking on the sea.

The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost, and they became fearful. But in verse 27, Jesus said:

“Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid.”

Peter responded in verse 28:

“Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

In verse 29, Jesus simply said to Peter:

“Come.”

At the Lord’s command, Peter stepped out of the boat and, incredibly, he also began to walk on the water toward Jesus.

This shows an important principle: faith comes from the Lord’s speaking. Peter didn’t walk on the water because of a special gift or power he had; he simply responded to the Lord’s command.

Then verse 30 says:

“But seeing the strong wind, he [Peter] became frightened; and as he began to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me!”

 Note 1 on seeing the strong wind in the Recovery Version explains:

“Peter came down from the boat and walked on the water by faith in the Lord’s word (v. 29); however, when he saw the strong wind, his faith vanished. He should have walked by faith in the Lord’s word, not by looking at the circumstances (i.e., by sight). In following the Lord we should walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).”

The wind and battering waves had been there the whole time Peter was walking on the water. But the problem was that his focus suddenly shifted from the Lord and His word to the stormy environment around him. As a result, his faith disappeared, he became frightened, and he began to sink. 

Of course, Jesus didn’t leave Peter to sink in the sea. Verse 31 says:

“And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said to him, You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

In the Recovery Version, note 1 on doubt in verse 31 explains:             

“Since the Lord said to Peter, ‘Come’ (v. 29), Peter should have stood on that word and should not have doubted. Hence, the Lord rebuked him. Faith comes from the Lord’s word and stands on the Lord’s word. As long as we have the Lord’s word, we should simply believe in His word and not doubt.”

Faith comes from the Lord’s word

Peter began walking on water by faith in the Lord’s word. But the moment he looked at the strong wind, his faith vanished. He no longer stood on the Lord’s word. This shows us that focusing on our environment instead of looking at the Lord and His word causes our faith to disappear.  

Peter’s story matches our experience. Like Peter, we may begin our day with the Lord, enjoying His Word and standing on it. But as the day goes on, we become occupied with looking at and considering the “waves and winds” of our troubling circumstances. That’s when our faith seems to disappear, and we begin to sink in doubt. 

At such times, we shouldn’t be discouraged about our seeming lack of faith. Instead, we need to remember that faith comes from the Lord’s word. We should exercise to turn our eyes from our environment, look at the Lord Jesus, and stand on His word. We can do this by calling on the name of the Lord, asking Him to speak to us, or opening our Bible to read a verse or two. The Bible is full of God’s speaking to us, and we’re saved from doubt by simply believing His word. Then we can walk by faith, not by sight, even in the midst of our stormy situation.

If you live in the US, we encourage you to order a free copy of the New Testament Recovery Version here so you can read all of the notes on the verses mentioned in this post.