But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit, and they cried out for fear. – Matthew 14:24-26.

Following the miraculous feeding, which John relates in the discourse on the Bread of Life, the disciples departed across the sea of Galilee by rented ship. Jesus dismissed the crowd and went up into a mountain to pray.  

That night, three miles out in the lake, the disciples encountered difficulty from a contrary wind. During the fourth watch, from three to six a.m., Jesus came to the disciples walking on the sea. The exhausted disciples were afraid, thinking He was a spirit.

Jesus had just finished miraculously feeding five thousand—this didn’t include the women and children. Jesus instructed His disciples to get into the ship, and He would meet them on the other side. After ministering to the people, Jesus took time to go before the Father to be replenished, giving us an example when ministering to others. We also need someone to minister to us to replenish what has been given out.

The disciples were in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, waiting for Jesus’s return. When He returned, He was walking on the sea. They were afraid, thinking that He was a spirit, and began to cry out from fear. Jesus assured them it was Him and that they should not be frightened.

Peter replied that if it was Jesus, allow him to come to Him. Jesus’s reply to Peter was, “Come.” Peter left the ship and walked on the water to Jesus, but when he saw the wind and its boisterous, he became afraid, took his eyes off Jesus, and began to sink. As he began to sink, he cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!”

Jesus wants us to step out into the deep, where we will become fishermen of men. Naturally, when fishing, fishermen know the fish don’t linger by the bank, but the farther you go into the water, you will catch all kinds of fish. Spiritually speaking, when we go into the deep, our prayer life is deep, and we often fast to subject our bodies to the Spirit of God and the voice of God. We make our bodies to become a living sacrifice. We read and study the Word of God to show ourselves approved unto God as a workman who needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.

As we seek to go deeper in the Spirit, storms will come to try to detour our focus. Satan will begin to throw darts at our health, marriage, finances, employment, family, and ministry to get us to focus on our problems rather than focusing on the Lord and our mission.  The storms make us afraid; storms come to make us stop and do nothing.

When the test or trial appears boisterous and blowing from every side, we will sink into fear if we don’t focus on Jesus. Jesus is the Captain of our ship. He’s on board and will never allow the storms of life to defeat His purpose and plans for us.

When the storms of life come, don’t fret or fear. Put yourself on a fast, go to your war room, and begin to pray. Pray the Word of God over your circumstances and situations. God watches over His Word to hasten to perform them.

Cry out to Jesus not to let the storm drown you. Don’t ask to be taken out of the storm, but pray to weather it and come out with the victory. This is where spiritual growth comes in; we’re being prepared to be fishermen of men! The storms are just a stepping stone to get you to another realm in the Spirit and to go from glory to glory.