Faith Triangle Model
But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. Matthew 8:26
And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:31
The setting of each of these verses occurs on the Sea of Galilee. Another name is the sea of Tiberias, as noted in John 6:1. However, in Luke 5:1, it is identified as the Lake of Gennesaret. This lake is approximately 12 miles by 7 miles, and the Jordan River is the primary source that feeds it.. From this lake, we can learn a precious lesson on faith because everyone recognizes that water can lead to fear. If someone has a fear of water or the proper term is aquaphobia, especially if you have an excessive amount of anxiety when you enter a boat, ship, or even the swimming pool. Although I don't believe the 12 disciples' level of anxiety will equate to aquaphobia. Still, excessive water entering into their boat during inclement weather elevated a life-threatening situation, as noted in the verses surrounding our text.
I remembered such a level of anxiety occurred when I, too, set my goal of qualifying for my first scuba dive. I believe scuba diving is easy to learn because you use three basic skills – floating, kicking, and breathing. Since I consider myself an excellent swimmer, such a goal was easily attainable, I thought. Yet, my first dive off the coast of Tampa, some 15 miles from the coastline, became complicated and problematic. I have had two weeks of training in a swimming pool with a master diver, and I knew the primary risk factor of decompression sickness or bends. Still, the possibility of actually drowning waved heavily on my mind when I entered the water—this possibility of drowning lead to enormous fear, of which I found myself in a panic mode. Now my focus switched to survival mode based on my dependence to swim back to shore. Until I remembered the breathing techniques while placing trust in the equipment instead of my swimming ability, the dive became successful.
In Matthew 8th, the disciples follow Savior's direction: to get in the boat and travel to the other side of the lake. Traveling to their destination, they experienced inclement weather to the point that they could no longer control the afloat of the boat. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. (Matthew 8:24). When they awake Jesus with their cries for help, Jesus uses these words, Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?
Again, in Matthew 14th, the disciples are told to cross the lake. Because of the inclement weather, they find themselves in the middle of the lake right before daybreak (during the fourth watch). They became fearful, especially when they see Jesus walking on water because He tells them, Be of good cheer. It is I; do not be afraid. (Matthew 14:25) After Peter decides to join the Savior with this tremendous act of walking on water, the incredible power of weather became a distraction, and he began to sink. And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:31.
In each of these situations, faith is accompanying by fear or doubt. Yet, the motivating factor to increase one's fear or doubt more than faith is a distractor. A distractor is a person or a thing that distracts. It causes your focus to shift, or it prevents the intended outcome. For Peter, the intended outcome was for him to walk on water toward Jesus, but the distractors, which were the wind and the boisterous wave, prevented him. The distractors for the disciple to continue their journey to the other side of the lake were the inclement weather and the boisterous waves. In other words, the distractor was water, which caused each situation to reduce ones' faith and multiply both fear and doubt, which I refer to as the Little Faith Triangle. Distractor will shift the focus from the base to the sides.
One must view faith on a three-dimension triangle of which either fear or doubt occupies each side, but your base of the triangle is faith. Since the base is faith, it serves as your foundation, so the Savior stated in each scenario, O you of little faith. You have faith as a believer because Hebrew 11:6 says that (b)ut without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Mainly, this faith enables you to become a believer of which the disciples had. Yet, this faith must become great faith, as displayed by the Centurion who requested Jesus to heal his servant at home paralyzed and dreadfully tormented (Matthew 8:5). When the Centurion asked Jesus to speak the word instead of coming to his house, the Savior stated, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel." (Matthew 8:10) When you noticed the dialogue of the Centurion, you will understand his knowledge of authority that enabled him to grasp the concept of faith differently than the disciples. Nonetheless, Jesus used the lake to create a learning opportunity to produce great faith among the disciples by displaying His authority over water and the natural elements.
As believers, we must allow faith to minimize doubt and fear. We must understand that distractors will shift our focus to fear and doubt. We must realize that the Savior's authority exceeds any distractor, which causes our fear and doubt to elevate over our faith. Remember, Great Faith allows us to minimize fear and doubt, but little faith tolerates distractors. Although distractors are prevalent, our faith dominates when we recognize our Savior's authority, Jesus possesses.
An example of little faith in the old testament was Sarah's Faith in the promised child that God will allow her to have. When God reminded Abraham of the promise, Sarah laughed because she was 89 years old. After Sarah laughs, God turns to Abraham, asking, "Why did Sarah laugh, and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old? ' Is anything too wonderful for the Lord?" (Genesis 18:13-14) Then at age 90, she bears Isaiah. However, Scripture recalls Sarah's age when she died, who is the only female that the Bible gives us this detailed information. Sarah lived one hundred and twenty-seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. Genesis 23:1
When we understand the authority in our Savior, then our little faith will become great faith. So great faith will remain at the base of our Faith Triangle,
When you remove the distractors, your base will increase.