In my head this post has had a couple different titles. The title I'm using came to me one night when I was reading my Bible, I don't even remember what I was reading at the time, but the story in Matthew 14:22-33 came to mind. I sat for a few minutes just thinking and then I decided to read this passage of scripture.
Matthew 14:22-33 is the story of Jesus walking on the water. And the story of Peter walking on water too.
I started thinking about Peter and just his personality that we see through scripture. He seems to be an impulsive, doesn't-always-think-before-speaking, prideful, maybe a little harsh, bold kind of man. However, he also seemed to be a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of guy, he's pretty much the same no matter who he's with. And he also seems to be a man who lives his faith "out loud" (if that makes sense?). Peter is a lot of things and most of the time the lesson we're learning from him is what not to do (think about it). In this story I see him differently...
A number of years ago I was listening to a sermon my brother-in-law gave. I couldn't tell you the title or what it was even about, but there's one sentence that's stuck with me all these years. My brother-in-law was talking about Matthew 14:22-33 at this point in his sermon. He was talking about how Peter usually gets kind of a bad wrap, since we tend to focus more on his negative qualities. Anyway, he continues talking about Peter and then in reference to this passage says,
"But Peter got out of the boat."
It struck me then the way it does even as I'm writing this.
He got out of the boat.
Peter may have impulsively asked Jesus to call him to come and regardless of the reason, Peter had faith enough to get out of the boat and because of that faith, Peter walked on water.
We are at a place in our lives where we believe Jesus is calling us.
Our boat is safe, it's "easy", it's familiar, it's normal, it's what we know. Our boat is our comfort zone.
By faith we are choosing to step out of our boat.
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