Do You Want to Walk on Water?

Often we are asked by God to step out of our comfort zones. To take a leap of faith. Unfortunately for many of us we struggle to take that first step out of the boat or even on the ground for that matter. Peter in the Bible is a very interesting man. He has times of great faith, great fear, great anger. He is also the man that Christ said on this Rock I will build my church.

I was recently listening to a song by Family Force 5 called “Walk on Water.” It’s a pretty great song. Just listening to the lyrics had me thinking about Peter and his opportunity to walk on water. The spirit laid on my heart this topic and this question: Shawn, do you want to walk on water? Humbling question really. As I began to ponder this question I began to wonder and eventually study what it took for Peter to step out of that boat and walk on water.

I first looked at the events and what was happening in Matthew 14:25-33. Christ was walking to the disciples in what I would probably consider a bit of a rougher sea. The wind was blowing and seeing him walking out to them was enough to make them very fearful. They even contemplated as to whether he was a ghost. What I find interesting is that directly following this fear, Peter say to Christ “If it is you lord tell me to come to you.” And Christ’s response was very simple and something we should react to: “Come.” The story goes on and we find in just a line of text that Peter is walking on water. As Peter is walking he realizes the wind is really blowing and his fear rises to the surface. He begins to sink and immediately asks Christ to save him. Christ reaches out his hand and lifts him up out of the water. Then ask they two key statements: Oh you of little faith. Why did you doubt? Summing up in just a simple statement, Christ is telling us what we need to do to take that leap of faith and walk on water.

The first thing he did was ask for the Lord’s calling. Christ told Peter to “Come.” That would require a great act of obedience. A Leap of faith if you will. I believe that most of us have experienced this in our own lives. We ask for things like let someone enter my life that I can minister to, or even simpler than that, let this answer be known to be me. We are continually asking for a response to our desires. Often we must react to our circumstances on Faith, but far too often we react to our circumstances in our own knowledge or will power.

Faith is hard to explain. It is hard to see and is almost completely intangible. I mean believe in something you cannot see is even hard to explain. Faith is the defining belief in a sovereign God. It is Fulfilling Action in the Heart. It is how we explain what we believe. Faith is mentioned many times in the Bible. It has several different applications and is a proven essential to the belief that we have in Christ. If faith is so intangible, what is it that makes it so important.

First, we believe in God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. At times throughout the Bible each one of those has been visible to us in some comprehensible form. Otherwise, God would be completely un comprehensible. Having faith leads to several things: Strength (Acts 3:16), Action (2 Cor 9:2), and Wisdom (Proverbs 3:5). It ties us directly to the mission and requirements of the great commission. When we have faith, we will go and make disciples of all nations. We will act on our faith and use on the understanding that comes from God to carry out that action.

The second thing that Peter’s showing us through his actions is that even the strong in faith can have fear rise-up within us and cause us to doubt. Peter saw the wind blowing and in an instant, through that fear, was filled with doubt. Doubt that he was secure, protected, safe. He quickly began to sink, in turn causing more fear. This time, fear for his life. What I find interesting about Peter’s reactions is that he immediately turned to the only one that could have saved him…Jesus. He asked Jesus to save him. How similar is that to us? Christ reaches out his hand to save us. Over and over and over. Doubt is a scary thing. It is very preventative in our service to Christ, and not in a good way either. Doubt prevents us from receiving wisdom or anything for that matter (James 1:5-8). James tells us we cannot doubt if we expect to receive what we are asking for. He even compares those who doubt to a “wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” Much like what was happening to Peter, we are blown and tossed by the wind when we doubt.

What about fear? Fear is the root of doubt. Fear is something that causes anxiety or apprehension. Paul tells us in Phillipians 4:6 that we should not be anxious about anything but to take all of our requests to God in prayer. What I love about Peter is that he, like myself, was a continual work in progress. He denied Christ, didn’t always heed Christs prophetic words, was a passionate leader and instrument of God. I would say that Peter turned out pretty well. His growth is evident in the books he wrote in the Bible. In 1 Peter 5:7-8 he tells us to cast all of our anxiety on Him and to be alert and of sober mind because the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. I can’t help but think that Peter had to be thinking about his experience walking on water when he wrote this. Like Peter, fear and doubt will devour us if we succumb to it. It will root us out and stop any traction that we have in serving God. Fear will cause us to sink into the water and never walk to the mission field that God calls us to.

So, Peter has gone form walking on water to sinking. Like Peter, there is only one thing that can make us walk on water. The Israelites had needed the same thing previously when Isaiah was alive. God tell his people in Isiah 41:10 “do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will Strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with mu righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 was an encouragement to the Israelites then and to us now. We need Jesus to uphold us! To do as he did to Peter, extend his hand and pull him out of his fear and doubt. To support him. To save him. To save us!

I like to think about water. How easy it is to run my hands through it. How it runs over my fingers. It can be cold, hot, or just perfect. It is a beautiful thing to watch water flow down a stream or just watch the ocean at sunset. I think about walking on water and knowing that water in and of itself is not strong enough to hold me. I think about Peter. I think about Matthew 16:15-19 and the fact that Christ said that he was going to build his church on the Rock (Peter). The church was built on an imperfect man much like you and me. It was set with the cornerstone of Christ, our strength. The only way to really walk on water is to stand on the cornerstone. To walk on the strength and the stone that is true. That stone makes even the weakness of water become strong enough to stand on. All we must do is have a Faith that comes thorough the Spirit and eliminate fear and doubt. Stand on the Rock, Walk on water.

I leave you with this question. Do you want to walk on water? I do.

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