Get Out of the Boat and Walk

Something has been on my heart lately. I can’t get it out of my head. And I have heard it talked about several times in just the past two weeks. I don’t know about you, but when I hear something more than once, I think it is something to listen to. Maybe God is trying to teach me something. I don’t literally hear God’s voice like people in the Old Testament would. I wish I did, but I don’t. I think everyone ‘hears’ his voice differently, but the way I hear God’s voice is through repetition.

So what God has been speaking to me lately is about staying focused on Him. Through the business of my everyday life, it is easy for me to forget that I am not doing life on my own. I’m not doing ministry on my own. The story of Peter walking on water has been brought up on several occasions in the past couple weeks. But the story doesn’t stop with just Peter walking on water. Peter would never have been able to do it without Christ, who was already walking on the water in the midst of the storm.

My mom used to have a book laying around the house when I was younger. I’m not sure if she still has it, and I never read it, but the title has always stuck in my mind: If You Want to Walk on Water You Have to Get Out of the Boat. I think about this all the time. I’m sure Peter was a little scared, if not terrified about getting out of the boat in the middle of a storm and having to trust that he would miraculously walk on the water with the Son of God. Talk about having to get out of your comfort zone! What great faith he had. What great power God has. I always wonder if I were in Peter’s place, if I would’ve been able to get out of the boat.

The truth is, I believe in our own ways, as believers in Christ, we are called to get out of the boat and walk on water every single day. Every day we struggle to get out of our comfort zones, be obedient to God, and walk on water. I was called to get out of the boat when God brought me to Africa. And I am called to walk on water every single day as I put every ounce of my strength into trusting that God will keep me from sinking. But there is only one way this can happen. And we can go back to Peter for this one way.

When Peter got out of the boat and began to walk, his eyes were on Jesus. He never took his eyes off him. But as soon as he did look away, he began to sink. It was not until he looked backed to Jesus and called out to Him that He was able to stand on the water again. This is powerful for me. As soon as he took his eyes off Jesus, he sank. It wasn’t hours after he took his eyes off Jesus. It wasn’t minutes, or even seconds. The very moment he turned away he sank. This is a powerful reminder to me that we don’t have time to turn away from Christ, because as soon as we do, we begin to sink. And we will sink deeper and deeper until we turn back to Jesus.

So as I work here in ministry, daily I am reminded that I can’t do this without Jesus. I stepped out of my boat when I left my home in California and came to Uganda. And I am struggling to walk on water every day in my ministry with the street boys. Sometimes I turn away, forgetting that everything that has been accomplished has only been done because of Christ. That is when I struggle. But I turn back to Jesus and realize that I am not alone. God is getting His hands dirty right through me in this work that He has called me to in Africa. He is standing on the water with me through the good times and the bad, through the calm waters and through the storm.

Oh, how wonderful it is to know that even when I look away, my Lord is standing on the water with His arms outstretched ready to reach down and pick me up out of the waters when I turn back to Him. What have I done to deserve the love and compassion of my God? Absolutely nothing! So every day I thank Him and praise Him for the strength He has given me to get out of the boat, and the grace He gives me to keep walking on water.