“During
the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the
lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were
terrified. Its 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
Peter does not hesitate. The Lord says “come” and Peter stepped out
of the boat. Then as he sees what is happening around him, the waves and
the wind, uncertainty starts to creep in. I can imagine in Peter’s
head the thoughts, “Did I hear that correctly? Did the Lord really say
to come? I should have thought about this a little more before I got out
of the boat. What am I doing, I can’t walk on water? Oh dear what have I
done?”
And he starts to sink because he allows himself to doubt the call
that the Lord has given him to “come”.
The other day a dear friend of mine asked me if I knew what ‘positive
doubt’ was. I had heard a word from the Lord and I allowed doubt to
creep in because I did not like the word I had received. I knew I had
heard the word clearly, but I did not like it, so I started to doubt it.
I doubted that I had heard the word correctly. I doubted that it was
what the Lord was saying, because I didn’t want to acknowledge it.
Positive doubt.
So Peter asked the Lord to call him, and the Lord did. So Peter went,
and then began to sink because he didn’t think he was capable of doing
what the Lord had called him out of the boat to do. Positive doubt.
How often do I do this? How often do I say, okay Lord, Ill go and
then start to do something and start to doubt that the Lord actually
called me out of the boat?
The Lord is speaking to me about the verse above. He is saying in a
loud clear voice, “GET OUT OF THE BOAT, DON’T LOOK BACK, TRUST THAT I
HAVE THE PLAN, AND STOP DOUBTING THAT I CAN MAKE YOU WALK ON WATER.”
You see, I doubt when I get out of the boat because there are so many
things coming at me. The wind will blow me over, the waves will make me
sink, I cannot see the path because it goes over the waves that will
knock me down. There are many things outside of the boat that will
cause me to fall. There are many things outside the boat that will
challenge me. There are many things outside of the boat that are OUT OF
MY CONTROL.
Hmm…I wonder if that’s the point. When the Lord calls us out of the
boat, we cannot control what happens. We can’t control the waves that
come our way, we can’t control the wind that blows or the direction of
the path. We have to have FAITH and not DOUBT.
The problem is, that when we step out its hard because we cannot see
the path that the Lord wants us to take. It’s messy. It’s not defined.
The Lord showed me this morning that it’s like a dandelion. When the
dandelion runs its course in life and starts to dry up its seeds are
ready to be let go. All it takes is a gust of wind for the seeds to
become airborne and have NO control of where they go.
When I allow myself to die to the desires of THIS world and allow
Christ to be formed in me, I dry up and can be used like a dying
dandelion. When the dandelion starts to die and its seeds are ready to
be blown around, the seed has no control of where it will go. The Lord
said this morning that he wants me to be a dying dandelion. As I become
more like Him, I die to myself, and once I really start to die to
myself He wants to come and blow on the seeds He has planted in me. When
He does this, I will have no control over where I go, because it is HIM
that is blowing and guiding me.
So as I step out of the boat (representing the earthly world) and
step onto the wave (the kingdom of God) I have to have faith that He is
going to blow me in the direction He is calling me. And when I hear the
word and the direction He is blowing me, I cannot doubt that it is HIS
voice calling. Because when I doubt, I have not let go of the boat and I
am still residing in THIS world and not in HIS kingdom.
Will you step out of the boat with me and allow His breath to blow
you where He wants you? Or will you hold on to the rail and doubt that
He wants to call you to greater things for HIS Kingdom?
Be a dying dandelion today.
