Today’s story as told by Don Francisco in song is from Matthew 14:22-33, and is one of the most famous of the miracles of Jesus. Even those who don’t know about Jesus will have heard something about “walking on the water”. Again, the story is told from the point of view of one of its participants, this time by Peter. His boldness in the face of a frightening situation is another example of Peter’s willingness to do it all for Jesus, to demonstrate his trust. What makes this rendering of the story particularly meaningful is the message delivered in the final two lines. Wait for it – it’s well worth the journey through the song.
From Don Francisco’s first album Brother Of The Son in 1976, here is Voyage To Gennesaret. As before, the audio Bible version used here is the 2002 dramatized NIV Audio Bible by Zondervan Publishing, read by Steven Johnston.
Eleven men besides myself
In a boat both small and light
Pushed off for Gennesaret
In the first watch of the night
But a storm blew up at midnight
Coming hard down on the prow
We started losing headway
Shipping water stern and bowWhen someone shouted loud,
“Hey, look to starboard on the sea!”
The men screamed out in terror
At the form we all could see
A man was walking on the water,
And we trembled, cried and prayed
But He stopped and turned and spoke to us,
“It is I, don’t be afraid.”I shouted out to Jesus,
“If it’s You, then call to me,
And tell me now to come to You
And walk across the sea.”
Without a second’s thought
He looked at me and answered, “Come!”
My insides turned to water
My mind went blank and numb.I climbed across the gunwhale
Looking straight into His eyes
But long before I reached His side,
The wind began to rise
And I forgot Him in an instant
And I sank just like a stone
I cried out, “Jesus save me!”
And His hand was on my own.“Oh man of little faith,” He said,
“What made you doubt My word.
Have you been this long with Me
Without knowing what you’ve heard?”We climbed into the boat
And all at once the wind was gone
The sea turned calm and gentle
The day began to dawn.We knelt amazed and worshipped Him
For the power He displayed
For all that we had seen
Had left us wondering and dismayedIt was not till after Pentecost
I could really understand
But even when I doubted Him,
He did not let go my hand.
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Any parent who has had a child who was gravely ill will tell you how very difficult it is to handle. There is a major feeling of helplessness to have a child that is sick, and who begs you to make him or her better. It is bad enough to have this happen if you live where there is modern medical care available; at least in those circumstances, you have a little assurance that a solution will be found. But imagine how difficult it would be with no healthcare available beyond folk remedies, and your child is sick with a fever, and continues to get more and more ill. What can you do? How do you handle it??
There are some who look upon Christians as those who have given up their rational minds in order to believe something that is a legend, unproven, entirely based on emotions. Clearly, they would state, science has told us all we need to know about the life, the universe and everything else, and anything that science cannot fully explain today is simply waiting to be discovered and explained tomorrow. To cling to an old religion is to turn one’s back on those obvious truths and decide to follow fairy tales. 
If you wanted to learn as much as possible about what a brilliant scientist knew, you would read what he had written. If you wanted to know how he did his work, you might visit him in his lab and watch him. But if you wanted to know him on a very personal level, you would try to spend time with him regularly, seeing how he acted, made his decisions, and lived his life. Doing this would make it possible to even predict what that scientist might do or say under certain circumstances. Being close to him on a regular basis is what would make this possible.