The Apostle Peter is often remembered for his shortcomings, but he is forgotten for his extraordinary acts of faith. Peter's decision to step out onto rough seas and walk to Jesus is what I would describe as muscular faith, as believing faith. While Jesus had told Peter to come to him, it still took faith on his part to do it.

Circumstantially, it was crazy. But faith is the refusal to panic. Faith has no backup plan. Faith has no safety net. His was a sink-or-swim situation, and looking at Jesus, Peter defied the odds and was walking on water. No one has ever done this before – or since. But before he acted, Peter waited for a command from Christ, and Jesus told him, "Come" (Matthew 14:29).

This reminds us that we build our faith on what the Bible says. We don't announce, "By faith I want this. By faith I demand that." Rather, we ask, "What does the Scripture teach? What should I be praying for? What should I be asking for?" And then we pray accordingly.

The Bible defines faith this way: "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1). God responds to faith. Jesus could do no mighty work in his hometown because of unbelief (see Matthew 13:59). Unbelief hinders the work of God, while faith unleashes it. This doesn't mean that we can have faith in whatever we hope for or whatever we want. But we want to build our faith on what the Bible says.

In reading the Gospels, it is interesting to note that Jesus did not heal everyone. There were many people who were not raised from the dead. There were many people who were not healed of their infirmities. But the ones who called out to him were touched, like the blind man named Bartimaeus who heard that Jesus was coming his way and cried out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Someone told him not to yell so loudly, because he was drawing undue attention to himself, but that made him yell even more. And what happened? Jesus stopped. He heard the cry of Bartimaeus, touched him, and Bartimaeus was healed that day.

Not everyone was as vocal as Bartimaeus was, but they were just as persistent. A woman who had a medical condition that resulted in her bleeding constantly saw Jesus walking by through a crowd and thought, If I could just touch the hem of his garment, I will be healed. So she took that faith and, reaching through the crowd, managed to touch the edge of his robe. Jesus suddenly stopped and asked, "Who touched me?" People must have been thinking, Who touched you? Who didn't touch you? Everybody touched you!

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But he said, "Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me" (Luke 8:46). So the crowd probably parted, and there she was. But Jesus didn't want to rebuke her; he wanted to commend her for her active faith.

Of course, we all will have lapses of faith. We all will have those moments when we are not quite sure of what we are doing. It is not all that unusual. But what should we do when we have a lapse of faith? We should call out to Jesus.

That is what Peter did when he began to sink. He cried, "Lord, save me!" – and Jesus immediately reached out and caught him. Then he said to Peter, "You of little faith. Why did you doubt?"

Peter had taken his eyes off Jesus, looked down, saw the waves churning beneath his feet, and then lost his nerve and began to sink. But Jesus didn't tell Peter, "Hey, you made your bed. Sleep in it. You had to be out there, doing this crazy thing. It is your own fault."

Instead, what he said to Peter after saving him was quite affectionate. In the original language of the New Testament, the words "little faith" are actually one word that is an affectionate term. Jesus seemed to be saying, "Come on, man! You were doing so well! Why did you doubt?" Then Jesus lifted him up and they walked on water, the storm still raging. We don't read that the wind died down until they climbed into the boat. Peter had regained his focus, and with his eyes on Jesus, he was once again able to do the impossible.

We should never doubt our beliefs and believe our doubts. Instead, we should believe our beliefs, and we should doubt our doubts. Peter had a lapse of faith, but he got it back. Yes, he failed, but it was a spectacular failure. If you are going to fail, then this is the way to do it.

Have you ever tried to do something for God and it failed? If so, thank you for trying. It is better to try and to fail than to never try at all. Sometimes we learn lessons through so-called failure that we would not learn otherwise. It has been said that the doorway to success is often entered through the hallway of failure.

Have you ever stepped out in faith, only to lose your nerve and start sinking? Maybe you tried to start a Bible study and no one showed up. Maybe you tried to engage someone in a conversation about the Gospel, and they blew you off. Just keep trying. Keep attempting. Keep taking steps of faith. Because as you do, you will see God work in your life.