Do you ever feel like your faith is a yo-yo, jerking up and down though you don’t know who’s pulling the string? One Sunday at church, you might feel like you have it all straight: Jesus is Lord. God became human in Jesus and dwelled among us. So when we look into the face of Jesus, we are seeing who God is. Then the next day at school, someone says, “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere. God is a mystery, beyond our knowing, so anyone’s guess at faith is as good as another’s.” Everyone nods. You nod, too. But later, you wonder, “Did I just betray my Lord? Did I fail to stand up for the truth about Jesus?”

One night, saying your prayers, you have enough faith to trust God. There’s a situation with your friends. You feel really jealous about a new person in your group, as if they’re going to choose that new girl over you. You pray, and give the whole concern to God. The next morning, you wake up ready to trust that there’s room in your friends’ hearts for both you and the new person. Then when you get to school, you see your friends gushing about what a great outfit this girl has on, and how cool she’s done her hair. Before you know it, a cutting remark comes from your jealous lips. Everyone looks at you in shock. What happened to your faith? Some Christian you are, trusting God when it’s easy, and wilting the first time it gets hard.

You drive to volunteer at the nursing home, then turn off at the mall instead because you just can’t face those wrinkly, scary elders. You start to speak to someone about Jesus, then close your mouth, afraid you’ll sound like a fanatic. You see someone going down a bad path, and you want to tell them to stop, but then you don’t want to be pushy. You have a brochure about a mission trip on your dresser, but just can’t bring yourself to fill it out. What’s the matter with our faith? We think we believe, then we fail to live it out. Is that normal? Will we ever get stronger?

No disciple talked a bigger game than Peter. No disciple except Judas proved to be a bigger failure than Peter. “Even though I must die with you, I will not deny you,” said Peter, just a few hours before he denied even knowing Jesus three times (Mt. 26: 35). Earlier, when Jesus had asked the disciples “Who do you say that I am?” (Mt. 16: 15), it was Peter who responded immediately, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16: 17). He got it right, like no one ever had. Then, the next thing we read, Peter is protesting that Jesus must not suffer and die on the cross, and Jesus has to rebuke him so strongly that he calls him “Satan.” Peter soared in faith, then crashed hard.

Once, when Jesus came walking across the water to the disciples, Peter called out, “Lord, if it’s you, command me to come to you on the water” (Mt. 14: 28). So Jesus answered, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat, and began walking on the water towards Jesus. He did what was humanly impossible. For a few seconds, he did it. Then he looked down at the waves, panicked, and began to sink. “Lord, save me!” he cried. Jesus, of course, stretched out his hand and saved the poor disciple. But he was disappointed, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Peter lived large. He confessed his faith bravely. He failed big, and a lot. But Jesus never gave up on Peter. Ultimately, Peter lived up to his potential. He became the leader of the early church. He preached magnificent sermons in which many people came to faith. He endured persecution without wavering, and testified boldly in front of hostile authorities. He wrote magnificent, encouraging words of Scripture.

Stumbling in faith is never the last word on our lives. In fact, failing God is part of truly trying to live for God. Sure Peter sank in the waves, but who else even tried to get out of the boat? Yes, he failed to see how Jesus had to die on the cross, but who else declared so boldly, “You are the Son of the Living God”? On that terrible night before his death, Jesus said to Peter, “I have prayed for you, that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Lk. 22: 32). Jesus prayed for Peter then, and he prays for you now. He sends us his Spirit to strengthen us. He prays at the right hand of his Father on our behalf. As Paul wrote, “The one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1: 6). Our faith may fail from time to time, but Jesus does not give up on us. He uses even failures to make us become more and more like him.

After all, if you never tried to get out of the boat, you’d never walk on water….

Next Day Stretch

Make a list of your three or four all time biggest failures in faith. Note what happened. Consider why you failed. Then make a note about what happened after that. Did God use your failure in some way? What did you learn? How have those fallings in faith made your stronger?