Matthew 14:30-32 “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? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.”

Luke 22:55-62 “And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them. But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him. And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not. And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not. And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean. And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew. And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.”

Text Matthew 7:3-5 “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.”

I find it within my nature to quickly identify and criticize the failure of others while being willfully blind to my own! One such case is the numerous times I find myself scrutinizing the blunders of “the voice” of the disciples, Simon Peter. Because his life was overshadowed by that of the Apostle Paul after the events of Pentecost, we fail to acknowledge most of his spiritual accomplishments. One such instance is that while Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, we sometimes forget that it was Peter that opened the door. While some remember Peter for his Pentecostal Message, most identify with his problematic ministry! Most remember Peter’s problems with water when he sank and witnessing when he denied. Yet, if we were to rid ourselves of the beam, we could see that the events were not all bad. While he failed in his attempt, Peter did not fail to make an attempt; he did get out of the boat and while it was afar off, he did follow. In fact, when you closely examine the events; while Peter did falter, he was on track to succeed! Success would have to have entered the same path attempted. While he failed in persistence, he did walk on water; “And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus” (Matthew 14:29). Other than the precious Saviour, name another man that knows what it feels like to step out upon the sea and find its surface sufficient to walk upon. When considering Peter’s denial of the Lord; while he made three attempts with his lips, there was enough evidence in his life to convince the crowd that Peter was one of the Lord’s disciples; “Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee” (Matthew 26:73). Until we get close enough to feel the spray off of the waves and the heat from the fire of the enemy; we might ought to give more attention to beams than motes!