Get out of the boat...and keep walking!

Yesterday, the passage in Matthew 14 where Peter walks on the water to Jesus came to my attention twice.  Twice before 9:00 AM.  Usually when things like that happen, there's a reason.  It's not a coincidence. (Coincidences are rare, in not nonexistant, in my opinion.)

Anyway, if you're not familiar with that story, here you go.

 

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.  After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.  When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

During the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.  When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified.  "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.

But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage!  It is I.  Don't be afraid."

"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."

"Come," he said.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.  "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.  Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Matthew 14:22-32 (NIV)

So, Jesus had just finished feeding 5,000 people.  Men, really, plus women and children.  So, he fed a lot of people out of those two fish and five loaves of bread.  The crowd wanted to make him king.  Not the plan, folks, and Jesus needs an exit. He sends the disciples on ahead in the boat, dismisses the crowd, and retreats to some time alone with God.  (More on that last part another day.)

Out in the boat, the disciples are sailing all night.  The winds start to pick up, and the waves start to pound the side of the boat.  I'm sure the disciples were thinking, "Why did Jesus send us on ahead without him?  What the heck is going on?"  Keep in mind, they had already witnessed Jesus calm winds and waves like these or worse in addition to all of the other miracles.

Then, they see a figure in the distance.  Walking.  On the water.  On the water.  Freaky!  Jesus assures them that it is indeed him.  Then Peter, in the midst of the storm and the bizarre event of Jesus walking on the water to them, asks for the Lord to call him out of the boat.

Let me pause here a minute.  There are some stormy waters in our life right now.  Not "capsize the boat" storms, but the waters are rough on number of different fronts, affecting us and those close to us.  Unfortunately, I can't go into a lot of details beyond that, but we all have storms in life.  Ones we have just passed through.  Ones where the wind and waves are battering the boat.  Ones looming on the horizon.  That's part of life.

There is a component of our faith that requires action.  It is not enough to say, "Lord, lead me."  You actually have to follow.  And sometimes, that means you have to put your foot out of the safety of the boat, into the waves, and stand up.  You can't walk on water while you're still in the boat.  And it was clear, crystal clear, to Peter what he needed to do.  Get out of the boat.

So, back to Peter.  Peter sticks his feet out of the boat, into the water, stands up, and starts walking to Jesus.  He is walking on the water.  On the water.  Wow.

Then it hits him.  He's walking on the water.  He's walking on the water.  In a storm.  He sees the waves.  Feels the gusts of the wind.  And he sinks.

Pause again.  I am soooo guilty of taking my eyes off Jesus in the midst of the storm.  It is so easy to try and see what I can do, how I can fix the problem.  Or even just letting my mind be consumed with the problem and its possible outcomes.  I take my eyes off the only thing that is truly able to keep me afloat in the storm, and I start to sink. 

You know the feeling.  Your mind starts racing.  So does your pulse.  Your heart and head pound.  Panic creeps in, and suddenly it's a little harder to breathe.  Kind of feels like you're sinking.  Because you are.

Back to Peter.  When Peter shifted his focus off of Jesus and onto his circumstances, his storm, he sank.  He cries out to Jesus to save him.  And even though Peter was sinking because he took his eyes of Christ, Jesus comes to his rescue, reaches out his hand, and they make the rest of the journey to the boat together.  They climb in the boat, and the winds stop.

Our only lifeline, the only way we stay afloat when following Christ in the storm is to keep our eyes locked on him.  Ignore the wind, the waves, the fact that to follow him it means stepping out of the boat in the middle of the lake.  None of that matters when you are focused on Christ.  He will provide the way through the storm, probably in a way that neither of us would've imagined.

So, if you have asked Jesus to tell you where to go, and he tells you to come, you have to get out of the boat.  Stand up on the waves, and go where he is calling you to go.  And while you're walking on the water, don't look down.