Staying In or Getting Out?

And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. Matthew 14:29

Have you ever had a “climb out of the boat and walk on the water” experience with Jesus before? I believe God brings His children to specific times in their life when this is exactly what He wants them to do. I look back at countless Bible characters and time and time again God is calling them out of their comfort zones and sedentary lives to learn to walk by faith arm and arm with Him. That is what I see when I read the accounts of Moses, Abraham, Daniel, David, Paul, Esther, Ruth, Mary Magdalene, and His disciples. Each one was called to leave what they could see with their physical eyes in order to live by spiritual sight.

For me it was a slow realization but I can look back and point to the exact moment when I took my first step out of my “boat” and dared to put my foot on the “water.” I had come face to face with an issue that had remained unsettled in me for decades….music! My beliefs were such that I had to stay in line with what others said was the “right” music to listen to. I remember the night I asked God to give me the freedom to listen to the music that ministers to me. I was in the guestroom of my grandmother’s home. It took two hours of prayer and many tears but when it was over God handed me the freedom I longed for and that He longed to give to me. It not only opened up a whole new world of music to me but it opened up a whole new relationship for me with God.

It was not so much about the music. That is an area of preference. It had more to do with realizing I needed to live my Christian life according to God’s voice, God’s opinion, and God’s Word rather than what other people were telling me. Finding my security in the beliefs of others is no way to live. I had spent years watching people and listening to them. I had the art of conformity down pat. But internally I was dieing a slow death. My relationship with God was weak, empty, and distant.

Something was awakened in me when I dared to step away from my safety nets of human opinion and really search for God’s hand. Scary? Yes! Risky? Absolutely! And yet necessary! I cannot imagine living any other way.

Father, there is so much more You want to show me. May I not hesitate to let go of anything that keeps me from knowing and following You. Amen.