Get Out Of The Boat

Hello, sweet friends! I’ve missed you!

And I’ve missed writing. My sabbatical was way too lengthy as evidenced by my inability to remember my website’s password. Wow! That’s when you know you’ve been away a good while. But I’m definitely happy to be back and though a bit rusty, grateful for the opportunity to get back to this ministry and deep calling of my heart.

I seem to read more over the winter. There’s less time to be spent outside because temperatures in the teens are tolerable only so long. And there’s less daylight, making us feel sleepy long before our heads hit the pillow and slowing our senses along the way. It’s a nice ebb and flow really. I catch up on books I’ve been wanting to read during these cold nights and mornings. I find new ones, as well, realizing I probably wouldn’t have found them if I wasn’t actively searching for more literature to absorb.

And here’s the funny thing.

God keeps speaking to my heart on one particular subject over and over…

and over.

“Ok, God! I get it!”, I say with a twinkle in my eye, delighted that the God of the universe is small enough to consider the needs of my heart.

Through literature, (and a televised sermon), I’ve heard the same thing represented several different ways over the past few weeks and here’s what I’ve learned:

I need to get out of the boat.

 

Wouldn’t it be funny if I ended things right after that last sentence? Oh, the confusion. But you know I won’t. Let me explain:

One particular author I’ve found quite interesting lately has been talking about Peter; the Peter of the Bible. The Peter who walked next to Jesus and saw His eyes and experienced His heart and heard His voice and knows exactly what He looks like and swore he’d never betray Him but did and then still went on to be the rock on whom Christ built His church. Yeah, that Peter.

Honestly, her writings make me love Peter. It’s so easy to think he was kind of a messed up guy and to question all the times he questioned his own faith as recorded in the scriptures. But, what if we found him endearing instead? For being the first to folly big time and for having his weaknesses splattered across the pages of history? And for being the guy we can relate to when our own faith is tested and we embarrassingly miss the mark?

We know Peter denied Jesus 3 times after he emphatically swore to his beloved Friend he would not. And we know before that, one stormy night, Peter was asked to step out of a boat. Peter did. And Peter failed that test, as well. And it’s recorded for all of us to see.

Thank you, Peter.

So, this author was presenting a case for her readers to get out of their own proverbial boats. And then, another author did the same but in a different manner. And then a favorite pastor of mine did in one of his sermons and then some more indications and well…you get it: I started to catch on.

I’ve learned we feel safe when we’re in the boat. Even in the storms, we feel safer clinging to the boat than we do stepping out onto a thrashing sea. Even if we hear the voice of our Jesus telling us it’s ok and bidding us to “come”, we still kinda wanna hang on to that boat, don’t we?

But when we step out, we make room for a miracle.

Peter did real well when he first stepped out in response to the call. Because he kept his eyes on Jesus. But the moment things got scary again, he turned his focus to the storm. And the storm began to pull him under.

But Jesus rescued him. Jesus is a rescuer at heart…always.

And Peter, in his flimsy faith and awkward stumbling shows us the most brilliant decision we can make is to follow his lead and take that precarious step. Because God is a miracle worker and a rescuer. Either way, we’re covered. Either way, we see the glory of a God who never intends for the storms to take us under.

I love that.

It got me thinking about all the ways I have been wanting to get out of the boat but have been clinging to it instead. And here’s what I’ve decided: I want to be like Peter. Poor, sweet, trusting and then not-so-trusting Peter. He is human. He is us. We won’t always get it right. But we serve a God who does.

Wouldn’t you have loved to have seen Peter once he hit his stride? Once he finally understood, after taking all those first and ridiculously difficult steps, that his God was for him and would never leave him? Wouldn’t you have loved to have seen him work full-blown miracles with fire in his eyes and a passion in his heart contagious enough to build our church from the ground up? Amazing things will follow those first few stumbles, no matter how big or public they are.

So, getting back to writing is one of the ways I’m trying to get out of the boat more these days. I’ll be honest and tell you I was nervous to do so. I was afraid I had run out of anything even remotely interesting to say and that I’m not really a writer so I should probably give this up.

Yet God bids me, “come”…and reminds me that a willing heart is all He needs to make some big things happen. He doesn’t even care that I still question my choice – right in the middle of it. He only sees that I took the step.

We all doubt. We all resemble our friend Peter at times. But like him, God can do amazing things through us if we focus on Him and take that step. “Playing it safe” doesn’t set the stage for His power and mercy to shine through nor for our faith to be built on something steadfast and strong.

What is your storm? Whatever it may be, Jesus is, and always will be, a better choice than your boat.

See you out on the water, my dear friends.

Thank you, Father, for never punishing my lack of faith but always rewarding the moments I step out of the boat. You are the God in Whom I trust and You have my heart now and forevermore. Amen.