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St. Peter had the faith that Jesus could share with him the gift of walking on water. And he did! But as soon as St. Peter looked down at the stormy sea and the crashing waves, he began to lose that sight of faith, and he started to sink! Jesus had to reach down to pull him back up, and draw his attention back on him.

The stormy sea represents the problems in this life. We can never escape them, nobody goes without at least some troubles or problems for very long, no matter how big or small they may be. Our job is to walk above them, to not sink into them. Once we start to sink into them, we began to increase the problems, make them worse, or even drown in them. So we must stay above them.

We can’t do that on our own. Painful experience has proven that problems are bigger than us, and that the devil is more powerful and more intelligent than us. When we try to face them head-on, we fall and we fail. We often sink into it. Sometimes this can lead to depression and despair, especially when the battle we’re constantly losing is the battle against temptation, to avoid sinning.

The only way to escape this is to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. “Perfect love casts out all fear.” And “God is Love.” Look up to God. Look up to Him, don’t let anything scare you or draw your attention away from His gaze.

The only power that temptation has is to scare us into thinking we have to give in. And what else are problems than temptations to abandon God, thinking that he’s not going to rescue us from them, so that we have no choice but to abandon his ways, his laws, his morals in order to save ourselves from such problems?

So when problems happen in life, it’s a temptation to abandon God. It’s a scare-tactic of the devil, trying to get us to think we have to do things his way in order to survive, or to avoid problems, or find our happiness in life when everything else seems to fail.

Don’t worry. Don’t panic. Jesus says this time and time again. “Do not be afraid. Only believe.” “Have no fear, it is I.” “Take courage.” Over and over and over. He wants us to look up to Him. Not selfishly, not pridefully, but because He is goodness and love and peace and safety against all bad things.

And only He has the power to walk on top of water. But he will share it with us, if we keep our eyes fixed on Him! He himself said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father.”

So if we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus at all times, and the many manifestations of his immense Love for us, and his omnipotent Power over all creation, and over all flesh, remembering that He Himself said “All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been delivered unto me,” then we will be safe from all bad things.

And even when they seem to be inescapable, it’s only going to last a short time, and then suddenly “he will destroy them by his appearing, and by his coming.” Not just in the end times, but even now, in all big and little problems: they’re all temporary. And Jesus will fix them, one way or another.

(All Bible quotes are RSVCE.)