Jesus Pities Us
Jesus Pities Us
(Submitted by Tim Klink of Prison Discipleship Ministry)
The apostle Peter gave us a great example of looking at what was around him when he took His eyes off of Jesus. Peter and the rest of Jesus’s disciples were in a ship fighting a very strong wind. The waves were high which made it very hard to row. The darkness of night, combined with the howling wind gave the situation they were in a feeling of terror.
Suddenly, in the distance, they saw someone walking on the top of the waves. They were terrified, thinking it was a ghost. But it was Jesus coming to them. When they realized it, Peter called out to Him and asked Him to prove that it really was Him by allowing him to join Him on the water.
Matthew 14:28-31
“And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.”
And He said, “Come.”
And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, “Lord, save me.”
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”
Why did Jesus reach out His hand and save Peter? Why didn’t Jesus just let him drown? Peter saw with his own eyes what Jesus was doing, and yet he doubted. What was it that made Jesus save him? Jesus had pity on Peter, just as He has pity on all of those who look to Him. Jesus knew exactly what made Pete’s faith fail, and in His pity, He brought peace, comfort, and deliverance from the storm to him.
Psalm 103:13-14
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Notice that God remembers where we came from. Man was formed from the “dust” of the ground, not the “dirt.” Dirt has a purpose and can sustain life to things that are planted in it. Dust is probably the most useless thing on the planet. There is absolutely no useful purpose for it, and everywhere we find it all we want to do is get rid of it.
I am so glad that Jesus pities my “dust.”