Walking on Water

The Lord is doing huge works in my life right now starting with those two amazing weeks in February. Throughout all of this, the main message has been clear: Have faith in the Lord, trust in His ways, follow all of His commands and He will take care of us and provide all that we need.

Right now He has me in a spot familiar to Peter. In Matthew 14:22-33 we see the story of Peter and Jesus walking on water. Peter gets a bad rap because Jesus says to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" when Peter started panicking and sinking as he saw the waves. However, what people forget about, is that Peter WALKED ON WATER! If Peter lacked faith, what about the rest of the disciples? They didn't even get out of the boat. Peter had the faith to trust Jesus enough to step out of the boat and onto the water.

That is where I am now. I have been in the boat, floating and drifting and Jesus called me out of the boat and onto the water. At the beginning of the story, Jesus tells to the disciples to get into the boat and go before Him to the other side of the sea. Seven years ago, the Lord told me to go into teaching. This was my boat. Teaching is comfortable and safe. There is great job security and you can get a job anywhere. Once you are in, you are pretty secure, especially as a math teacher.

While the disciples were in the boat, they felt the wind and the waves but they were still safe and secure in the boat. The same was true for me. Teaching can be draining when you have to deal with teenagers all day and it can be financially hard because you don't get paid a ton but it is safe. Our plan was to sell our house and move into something smaller, closer, and more affordable so I could continue to teach.

This is where Jesus told me to get out of the boat. In the process of selling our house and moving closer to my work, everything changed. We had been hearing for years about our need to trust the Lord and tithe consistently and our need to wake up early together and seek Him first before we started our day. We finally did those things which set off those two indescribable weeks. That is when the Lord called us. Jesus was in the middle of the sea when Peter saw Him and said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." The Lord did and Peter stepped out and actually walked on the water.

Peter's problem was that he took his eyes off of Jesus and focused on the waves. While I have been in teaching, Jesus has been planning something else. He is calling me to something different and He is calling me to walk out to meet Him out in the waves. There are times when I am like Peter and I start looking at the waves rising and crashing around me. I am ready to give up and get back in the boat but I know that is not where He wants me. I must force myself to keep walking out to Him even thought I feel like I am ready to sink. It is not comfortable where I am at because I am not in control. It is scary and it is not secure because I am not in charge. In the boat, I made the decisions, I knew that I wouldn't sink but now, I am out. I could start to sink if I stop focusing on the Lord. The only security I have right now is that I know He will put me back in the boat if I start to sink.

My wife recently bought the new book by Lee Strobel called "God's Outrageous Claims" and one of the claims is playing it safe is a dangerous way to live. God calls us to take risks. Without taking risks, we cannot have faith, and without faith, we cannot follow God's path for our lives. Playing it safe is staying in the boat but God wants me out of the boat.