Walking on Water

John Ortberg wrote a really good book several years ago called If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat.  It’s about the famous story of Peter trying to walk on the water to get to Jesus. (Matthew 14:25-32)  There are so many interesting perspectives in this story.  What was Peter thinking when he tried to do the impossible?  Well, he was thinking originally that he was going to be faithful and obedient and take a risk.  

Ortberg says “You need only enough faith to take the net step.”  How many times do we look at the big picture and completely psych ourselves out?  If we are trying to do something big and important and meaningful, often times that means it’s hard.  It can overwhelm us and cause us to freeze up.

We can learn a lot from Jesus and from Peter in this story.  For the next 4 weeks we will talk about having courage and taking risks as Jesus calls out to us.  We will talk about what we can learn from failure.  Failure is not the worst thing in the world to have happen to us even though it can feel pretty rotten.  We will talk about what extreme discipleship looks like and keeping our eye on Jesus.

So for you to ponder this weekend, what is your next step?  Can you see Jesus in front of you?  Do you have Jesus in your line of vision?  How far is he from you?  So what does that next step look like for you?

I don’t know about you but when I take a moment to reflect on these questions I have a lot in the way between me and Jesus at the moment.  I am working on clearing out some of the obstacles, because I’m pretty sure that none of them are nearly as important as I might think they are.  And if they aren’t stepping stones, than they are obstacles to be worked around.  But before I get overwhelmed, I remind myself of Ortberg’s encouragement I only need enough faith to the next step in front of me.  That, I can do.

If we want to be with Jesus, and being with Jesus is the best and most amazing place we can be, we are going to have to get our feet wet.  After all, Jesus is in the water.  Man, do we have lots to talk about this month!  Hope to see you in worship or on our Lifestream.

Grace and Peace,

Lory Beth