A little while back, God gave me a vision.
It was one morning, while I was praying as usual, that God showed me a very clear image. In this vision, I saw myself standing on a beach. It was dark out, the air was warm, and there were tropical palm trees lining this beautiful white sand shore. The scene was still and quiet, and because it was dark, I could only really hear the waves lapping against the shore. But as I looked out onto the water, I noticed something out of place. It was Jesus. He glowed with a bright fluorescent white, in stark contrast to the darkness all around. When I saw him, everything else around me seemed to lose focus. And then, as I stood on my beach staring at him out in the middle of the sea, I heard his voice.
“I’m asking you to walk on water, but all you want to do is swim.”
So much of my life, I’ve asked the Lord what He wants me to do. I’ve prayed time after time for God to use me radically with my life. Like Peter on the boat in the storm, I’ve asked God to call me out on the water. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve passionately sung those lyrics: “You call me out beyond the shore into the waves…” And in my life now, I can see where God answered these prayers by calling me into deeper waters on the World Race.
But what happens after we say “yes” to God?
I’m a great swimmer, by the way. At age two, my parents had to keep the windows of the car locked when at the beach, because I’d try to climb out to go swimming, squealing “LAKE! LAKE”. As a kid, my parents couldn’t keep me out of the water whenever we visited a friend’s house with a backyard pool. I spent a good chunk of my middle school years on the swim team, and I could basically outswim most of my teammates. And my high school years going into college, I took to lifeguarding at the YMCA and local waterpark for employment.
If I were Peter in the boat during that storm, and God asked me to swim to Him, I’d do it in a heartbeat. “Wow, God! Something I’m good at, AND I get to come next to you?? What a deal!”
But God never called Peter to swim to Him. He asked Him to walk.
In case you didn’t know, walking on water is physically impossible. It’s one of those miracles in the Bible that I totally believe happened then, but would have a very hard time believing if someone told me they could do it today. Sure, I believe that God is all powerful – I believe He can heal people of diseases, injuries, and ailments – but walking on water seems like kind of, well, “dated” miracle. Like turning water into wine or something. It’s just not quite as practical as one of those healing miracles; walking on water is better used now as one of those “metaphor” miracles.
But when Jesus called Peter out on the water with him, He meant it literally. And why? Because Peter asked for it.
“You call me out beyond the shore into the waves…”
So many times in our lives, God calls us to impossible things. To go to places where we’ve never been to, or to serve in ministries that we don’t think we’re gifted in. So many times, we limit God to the abilities we think He’s given us, believing that our faith only goes as far as our giftings.
I’m gifted in swimming. So why does God ask me to walk to him instead?
Because He’s not floating around in the water. He’s standing on top of it.
See, here’s what happens. I stand on my comfortable little beach, asking God to call me out to Him, my first instinct is to say “yes”. I dwell on Scriptural truths – “God is faithful, God does impossible things, God is able, God equips the weak…” And so, I step out, with toes in the water, not sure of what’s ahead. Little by little, I inch my way into the water, waiting to see if the water will hold my weight. But then I remember something – “I’m a swimmer! Why am I so scared of this? God’s asking me to come out to Him, to trust Him in deep waters, and yet I know if I just swim I’ll be able to get to Him just fine!”
And so, I lay down in the tide and start swimming. I press on quickly, as the current carry my body every which way. I duck under the large waves that come and pass over me, my eyes stinging from the salt water. I swim harder and harder, knowing that I must be making headway. Since it’s hard to swim with my head above water, I look up ahead every couple of seconds during a breath, just to make sure I’m heading in the right direction. My body starts growing weary, and I’m praying for the strength to keep going, praying that I’m close to Him by now. And just as my body is about to give out, I stop swimming. I pause to look around. And I realize that in the process of my swimming, I somehow lost sight of where the Lord was standing. I search all around, wondering how I could’ve missed him, but surely enough He is nowhere to be found.
Did I make it out to where He was? Sure. Didn’t I trust Him to give me strength? Yes, I did.
So why did I miss Him? I did what He asked me to do, right?
“What are you doing down there?” He asks.
Suddenly, He’s standing on top of the water right next to me, looking down.
“I came here for you,” I reply.
“Yes you did. So why are you down there and not up here?”
I pause, confused. “Did you not want me out here with you? I thought you called me?”
And then, He tells me. “I’m asking you to walk on water, but all you want to do is swim.”
I realize that the whole time, God wasn’t concerned with the end result. I got to where He wanted me to be, and yet missed the point entirely.
Swimming to Jesus took no faith. Sure, there were portions where the swimming got hard, and I had to trust Him to give me strength, but in the end, I knew that by my own efforts I made it out to Him. And yet, even though I had made it to the destination, I still didn’t find Him. I was never at eye level with Him to begin with.
So much of my life, I’ve struggled with this. God calls me to something big, and I get excited feeling like He sees something special in me. And so, I say yes, and I start walking towards His will. But in the process, I start controlling the situation. I start planning, making decisions based on my logic, and soon my own way of doing what He calls me to do trumps anything He’s trying to tell me in the moment. It wouldn’t matter if God wanted to give me instructions for the assignment, because I already figured out how to do it. And in doing this, I might achieve the task of God, but I miss Him entirely.
Because God’s not looking at my works.
He’s looking at my faith.
Faith is the substance of our salvation. It’s the very thing that holds us in relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s the very reason Abraham was named the father of all generations, or why Noah built an Ark, or why Moses chose to lead Israel out of Pharaoh’s clutches, or why skinny little David went up against Goliath. It’s by radical faith in an invisible God that these mighty heroes were saved.
It takes bold faith to hear God’s call to walk on water, and to say yes. But that bold faith in the big call of God gets put to the test by every step taken afterward.
What would it look like if we lived surrendered lives daily? Where every morning, we ask the Lord what He wants us to do that day? What if we actually allowed ourselves to change up our daily routine for His plan? What if we actually said “yes” to doing even the smallest things led by the Spirit, like: “Where should I eat lunch today, Lord?” or “Is now a good time to talk to that person?” or “How would you like me to spend this free time?”. What if in asking this, God actually willed for you to go to that coffee shop you didn’t think of initially, because He wanted you to meet with a friend to encourage them? Or if God tells you to wait to talk to that co-worker about something because He knows that they’ll be more prepared another time? Or if God gave you a totally new idea for free time that bonded you closer to Him?
What if we lived in the mindset that the Lord sees our lives better than we do, and that life lived by the Spirit was actually infinitely more satisfying than we could ever make it? That our lives could not only become more focused, impactful, and intentional, but in that process we grew even closer to Him?
What would life be like if we actually started walking on water? Where we listen to what God asks us to do, and we keep our eyes locked on Him as we do it? Where we believe God really will make something miraculously possible, even if it’s completely irrational or crazy or impossible?
Walking on water requires surrender. To come before the Lord every day, asking Him to provide for you. Asking Him to fill you with what you need for the day. Asking Him to tell you His will – with the intention of obeying it, regardless of the cost.
Because when I start walking on water, I keep full eye contact with my Savior. I believe that regardless of the waves around me, His face is still the only thing I want to see. I trust that when He called me out on the waves, He has already created a smooth path across the sea that leads straight to Him. Because I know that living life in full surrender to the Holy Spirit gives us access to a miraculous life transformed by the will of God and the face of Jesus.
But what happens if I start sinking? What if I walk on water, like Peter did, but then see the wind and the waves and start to drown?
“But oh, my son, wouldn’t sinking mean that I would come to your rescue? Wouldn’t that be better than swimming, and never seeing me at all?”
Sinking is better than swimming.
And so, going into this new week in Belize, I’m choosing to start fresh, with the intention of hearing God’s voice speak into everything my team does. I’m letting God have the space to give me new instructions for the day, even if they’re different than what I planned. I’m choosing to go out and find people to pray for and bless, even if I have no idea who it’s gonna be.
I’m giving up control, and letting Him take the reins. It’s hard, and frustrating, and confusing sometimes. But at the end of the day, I know that I’m far safer sinking in the will of God than swimming on my own efforts and missing Him completely.
Lord, call me out beyond the shore into the waves. I want to start walking.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
