‘If it’s really you, Lord, tell me to step out to you on the water.’ Peter, in the storm and in the dark, utterly exhausted. (Matthew 14:28).

This isn’t about showing off. It’s a group of distressed and utterly exhausted men, knowing they are about to drown, seeing a phantasm walking up to them on the water, in the dark. Except the phantasm looks and sounds like Jesus. ‘Have courage. I am. Don’t keep on being afraid.’ So Peter puts that phantasm to the test , gets permission and then steps out.

I don’t think we are meant to walk on water or do other impossible things. Maybe once or twice in a lifetime we will do something utterly miraculous. For 99.99% of the rest of the time, the normal rules of life apply, and won’t bend for us.

This is about compassion, the compassion of Christ for each one of us. This is about the times when we are going down, and we call out for help. Jesus is there with us, whether we feel him or not. ‘O you of little faith.’  Yes, there are times when our faith is gone. It’s all too hard. But Jesus has faith, and the people around us have faith when we can’t.

We have a faithful God (‘I am’) who knows what it is like to be in the dark, and be going down. That is what happened to him on the cross. He is the one who can reach out to each one of us, saying, ‘I have life for you. I have love for you. I have forgiveness for you. Now, let’s work out what new life looks like, in this difficult situation you are in.’ There are not always instant answers, but there is always ever present love.

That is the promise to each one of us.