I was driving home yesterday afternoon and heard this question. My immediate response was yes, of course I will, and then I felt myself pause. So, what does stepping out of the boat actually mean to me, and how will it impact my life? I think what is being asked of me is straightforward. Am I willing to leave what I know is safe, secure, comfortable, and step into the unknown? Don’t you love it when you get asked one question, only to realize that there really are multiple parts still remaining to be asked? In this paragraph alone there are three questions, and I am sure that I could come up with more with little effort.
Most of us are familiar with the scripture in Matthew 14:29 where Peter was addressing Jesus and asked Him if he could come to Him on the water. There have been numerous teachings that implied Peter had little faith when he realized he was walking on the water, that he took his eyes off of Jesus, and consequently started to sink. I believe Peter demonstrated a massive amount of faith in Jesus, not himself, when he even asked the question. It appears that Peter didn’t deliberate over this action, but saw Jesus and wanted to walk to Him. This tells me that his experiences with Jesus were getting ingrained; that his compulsion to get to Jesus was the overriding reason he stepped out. Once out, the man Peter realized where he was and started to come into agreement with the impossibility of what he was doing, and then he started to sink. I believe his faith in Jesus was unshakeable when he stepped out of the boat. When Jesus saved him from dying, his faith was confirmed, even when Jesus implied that he doubted.
So what does it mean to me? It means that I can trust that what I believe to be true about God’s word will always save me. That even if I allow my head knowledge to get in the way, I need only look to His promises to know that I will be fine. In a recent study that I was attending the teacher held up the Bible and said to a room full of women, “There is nothing in here that is meant to harm you.” I loved the way she phrased that, and it is something I want to remember when I am asked to get outside of my comfortable familiar environment. I want to reply as I did when first asked the question, yes, of course I will!
Matthew 14:27 NLT But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!”