He held on to Peter

Matthew 14-22:32
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land,beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

______

In the past, I would find what Peter did there (in the passage above) funny. Picturing a clumsy guy falling into the water, making a fool out of himself and making Jesus bring up the fact that he is of little faith. But I think now is the time I treat this passage more seriously.

Part of me wondered why did he would even want to do something crazy like walking on the water.
What if what's in Peter's mind was this - "If God is there, I will be fine there. I will have no reason to be worried there" ?

What Peter did was perhaps a rather immediate attempt to obey Jesus' command to take heart (or take courage in NIV). Taking those steps out of the boat did not mean that he is completely fearless of what he is doing. He took heart (or courage) in the fact that Jesus was there on the waters. He bothered to face his fears by putting his faith in Christ, while the rest on the boat maybe still in shock or panic.

Due to the change of circumstances, Peter sunk in fear but Jesus took hold of him. Through this small incident, we should not only see Peter's weakness but also God's faithfulness. He will be there while we are sinking in our fears and help us see that He is the great God who saves.