Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him 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. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” —Matthew 14:25-31
The story of Jesus walking on water is one of the most well known in the church world. However, depending on the day and the life situation, the message of the story is always a little different. Applying for the World Race was one of the biggest steps of faith I’ve ever taken and now more than ever I understand Peter’s situation.
I got accepted to the World Race several months ago. I had been considering and praying about the option for almost a year. But the minute I got the official acceptance, instead of joy and excitement, other feelings began to overwhelm me. Instead of moving forward with sharing and preparing, I became stuck in a rut of fears and doubts.
“Was this the right thing for me to do?” “What’s going to happen when people find out how little real ministry experience I have?” “Should I have prayed about this more?” “I’m not going to fit in with my squad.” “God, I’m not good enough for this…”
Those were just a handful of the thoughts running through my head. Just like Peter, I took my focus off God and let the waves come crashing in on top of me. Instead of dealing with the fears and doubts, I ignored them. I let myself become distracted with my busy everyday life and made excuse after excuse as to why I was not moving forward.
But God is bigger than the waves. He is bigger than my doubts and fears. And in the last couple months God pulled me out from my own thoughts that were overwhelming me. Please understand, my fears and doubts are not gone, but I finally came to a point where I realized I had to decide if I was going to trust God and his plan for my life.
You see, I started making the race about me, when it is supposed to be about Him. It is not about me and my ability. It is about God and His ability. He is looking for people to go into the world and when we do he promises to be right there beside us. “This is my command–be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” [Joshua 1:9] He promises to give us the words to speak. “Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.” [Exodus 4:12]
So I am choosing to trust God and I hope wherever you are you do too, because if we step out in faith and stay focused on Him, we too can walk on water.
