Get off the Boat!

Hello :)

My devotion tonight discussed taking the next step. It challenged me. I realized that it's easy to get caught up in taking the next step by simply focusing on the wrong point of view. I'm sure most of us tend to ask questions like, "Will there be a next step for me?" I know I'm guilty of asking that question. But how foolish is that? The question is never, 'will there be,' but rather 'will you take it?' So many opportunities are missed because we try to skip steps to reach success. I loved how the devotion explained it. We skip steps on a staircase in the hopes of getting up or down quicker. Sometimes this may prove true, but often we stumble. Each step is important. If it wasn't needed, it wouldn't be there.

Peter's step out of the boat and onto the water is the story I found to give an example of a step of Faith. It all starts with Jesus doing incredible things right in front of the disciples eyes. Christ is revealing who He really is through miracles such as the feeding of the 5,000. This is exactly what He does today. We see how He's moving and growing us by how He reveals Himself to us. Then we keep moving forward. Just as the disciples did. But then it hits us. THE DREAM. Right in the midst of turmoil, He begins to reveal something big. A calling, a mission. The disciples were in the middle of a storm when Jesus appeared to them. Our storms look a little different. A job, relationship, death, money, and we're left wondering, "How am I going to get to that dream? Especially right now? God is that you, really?" I know that personally, I was wondering if the dream, the calling, is really coming from Him so I cried out to Him, just as Peter did in Matthew 14:28 "...if it's you, tell me to come..." What better way to face our uncertainty than calling it out and simply saying, 'God, if this is You, Your will, tell me to come." The issue there though, if it's God, you better be ready to move. After Peter called this out, Jesus did tell him to come and He is still calling out for us to come! He puts the step (leap) of faith in front of us asking us to simply come. Sometimes it feels like walking on water, but most of the time, the first step is Christ seeing if we'll get out of the boat. What challenges me is, what are we (am I) waiting for? I've witnessed His power, His faithfulness, His miracles, yet I am doubting that He will be right in front of me through this storm as I pursue the dream He has called me to. The disciples did too. They just witnessed five loaves of bread and two fish feed over 5,000 people but when they got into trouble, they feared and doubted that Christ was in front of them, in the midst of the storm.

But it doesn't stop there. Jesus didn't stop the storm when Peter got out of the boat. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the storm seemed worse because Peter was more exposed to it, walking with the storm. If and WHEN Jesus does not stop the storm, remember, that's okay! When pursuing this dream of teaching in Haiti, I've been attacked. Things have gotten more difficult in some aspects but in others it's gotten better. I know that these attacks will continue to come but that doesn't change the fact that Jesus just wants me to keep walking towards Him. I can assure you, that while you're pursuing your dreams and mission, there will be attacks. The storm will seem unending with no hope in sight. But, as Peter looked away, Jesus came to his rescue, still letting the storm rage. The scripture says in Matthew 14:32, "When they climbed back into the boat the wind stopped." When Peter was comfortable, in the boat, the storm stopped. Not when Jesus rescued Him but when he returned to the boat. Stepping out of the boat means being uncomfortable. If you're comfortable, you're not growing. If the steps you are taking aren't making you at least reach out to Christ and focus harder on His will, you are too comfortable.

GET OUT OF THE BOAT!

I'd like to challenge those of you reading this in a similar way that I was challenged with all of this.

*CHALLENGE*

First: Pray for God to reveal what dream or mission He is calling you to. Don't pray that prayer if you're not serious because I can promise you, some way or another, He will ask you to come and start the journey to that dream.

Next: Pray for Him to reveal the first step in committing to and succeeding in that dream.

Last: Seek Him through His word and hang on tight.