Florida pastor urges the faithful to use the storms of life to grow closer to Jesus

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"Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.’

"And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.’ So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, 'Lord, save me!'

"And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, 'O you of little faith, why did you doubt?'" — Matthew 14:25-31

Christians should use the "storms" in their own lives to grow in their relationship with Jesus, a Florida-based pastor told Fox News Digital. 

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These verses come from the Gospel of Matthew, one of the three synoptic Gospels in the New Testament of the Bible.

Not much is known about St. Matthew, who is credited with writing the Gospel of Matthew, according to the Christian website Overviewbible.com. 

Pastor Jerry Sander explained to Fox News Digital the significance of the story of Jesus walking on water in Matthew's gospel.  (iStock/Jerry Sander)

When Matthew was called by Jesus to be one of his disciples, he was employed as a publican or tax collector, which was a "reviled profession" at the time.

And though he's one of the authors of the Gospels, St. Matthew is only mentioned seven times, said the same website.

In these verses, Jesus shocks His apostles when He walks on water during a storm, said Pastor Jerry Sander of Calvary Chapel Boca Raton in Boca Raton, Florida. 

The apostles, many of whom were fishermen, probably thought the trip on the Sea of Galilee would be fairly standard, noted Sander.

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"This trip turned out to be anything but," he said. "It was a huge storm." 

"These men were in serious danger and were fearful for their lives," said Sander. 

Jesus, who went up on a mountain to pray, could see that His friends were "floundering, fretting, and fearing," he explained. "That's when Jesus began walking towards them on water, an unbelievable miracle in and of itself." 

The sudden huge storm caused the apostles to think their ship would soon capsize.  (iStock)

When Jesus spots his terrified apostles, He "says two very interesting things," said Sander.

"First was, ‘Be of good cheer,’" Sander said. "That was probably the furthest thing from their minds. They are about to die, and Jesus says, ‘Be cheerful.'"

The second, said Sander, is, "Don't be afraid." 

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"I'm sure they thought, ‘Yeah, that’s easier said than done,'" he said. "But Peter speaks up and says, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to You on the water.’" 

That, explained Sander, was a look into Peter's internal faith struggle.

"I think a lot of us can relate to the hesitation that Peter had," said Sander. "But when Jesus says ‘come,’ Peter actually walks on water!" 

It is worth noting that when Peter is walking on water, he takes his eyes off Jesus and instead focuses on the storm, noted Sander. 

"I would much rather be in the eye of the storm with Jesus than in a storm without Him"

"Understandably, Peter was afraid," he said. "Immediately Jesus caught him and said, ‘O you of little faith.’" 

In Greek, said Sander, the sentence "O you of little faith" is actually one word: oligopistos, meaning, "little faith" or "trusting too little." 

"In many ways, Peter showed incredible faith but not where it mattered — in Jesus," he said. 

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Jesus' follow-up question to Peter, said Sander, is "a question that is crucial for all of us to answer: ‘Why do you doubt?'

"Doubt is a faith killer and the oldest trick in the book," Sander went on, noting that in the Book of Genesis, the serpent sows doubt in Eve when convincing her to eat the forbidden fruit. 

Jesus told his terrified apostles to "be of good cheer" and to not be afraid, even though they feared for their lives in the storm, says Pastor Jerry Sander. (iStock)

But, said Sander, this Bible story has a happy ending: The wind stops when Jesus enters the boat.

"I would much rather be in the eye of the storm with Jesus than in a storm without Him," he said. 

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After all, said Sander, storms‚ in the literal or figurative sense‚ will always be around. 

"Storms are going to come into all of our lives," he said. "And in the midst of that fear, I pray it draws us closer to Jesus." 

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