Walking on Water

Written by Sister2Sister Contributor:  Marni Boland  –  Niagara Falls

Part 1

Entering into the extraordinary

When the disciples saw Jesus 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.  (Matt. 14:26-29)

 

 

I love Peter!  Here’s a man who was putting his foot in his mouth one minute, and speaking words of a spiritual giant the next!   I love this moment in Peter’s life in particular.

“Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.”

To me THAT wasn’t the logical response… I wouldn’t even have thought to ask it!  And I would have missed out on one of the most amazing faith building experiences.  I would have said something like, “Wow!  Jesus, that’s pretty amazing!  Come onto the boat!”  Maybe, I might have said, “How are you doing that?” and swam over to check him out.  Not Peter.  He asked Jesus to invite him into the extraordinary.

From this I’ve been pondering so many things…

Peter knew that Jesus had the power to help him do what Jesus was doing.  Step out of the boat on his own?  He’d have had a bath for sure!  Ask Jesus to invite him to defy the laws of nature and do the extraordinary?  Peter walked on water.

I think it’s time I start asking Jesus to invite me to come to Him on the water…to ask him to invite me into HIS adventure.  I think Peter wanted to be a part of that extraordinary moment…”Lord, that’s amazing!  I want to do it too!”  I think God longs for us to ask Him to invite us to join His story, His purpose…something so much bigger than ourselves.  My hunch?  Jesus was rooting for Peter.  I think it thrilled him for Peter to make that request.  I think it thrills him when we ask the same.

What do you tend to ask God?  Do you ask him to come to you? Or do you ask Him to lead you to Him?  Come to you on the boat, where it’s safe, where it’s natural?  Or come to Him where it doesn’t even begin to make sense? Do you invite him to fit into your story? Or do you ask Him to allow you to be a part of His…where it’s not comfortable, and probably a little scary?   Is it, “Lord, I pray you will keep us all safe, and sound”  or, “Lord, do whatever it takes to draw us closer to you”?  Is it, “Lord, I pray everything will go well today”  or “Lord, lead me into deep waters today so that your name can be glorified, so that someone who doesn’t know you, may hear about you”?  Let’s face it, we already know what we, on our own can do.  But what God can do?  We haven’t even begun to scratch the surface.  Ephesians 3:20-21 tells us that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.  Our problem is we don’t think he means with us.  The interesting thing about this verse, is that it finishes off by saying, “according to His power that IS AT WORK WITHIN US”.  Yes, his power is at work in you!  He can do immeasurably more than what we can ever begin to imagine – he can move us from living the ordinary, into living the extraordinary.

 

Next Time:   Getting out of the boat!