A while back, during the worship service in our church, the Holy Spirit spoke to me about the time the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water. I was reminded that there were 12 disciples. Why didn’t the other 11 venture out onto the water with Peter? I thought of 3 possible reasons:
- Fear. Perhaps they saw the waves and fear kept them glued to their spots in the boat.
- Amazement. Perhaps they were amazed at what was happening with Peter. After all, he was walking on the water!
- Watching. Perhaps they were just caught up in being spectators, not even thinking, “Hey, I can do that, too!”
The Lord said to me that He wants us to get out of the boat and walk on top of our fears. Don’t let fear glue us to staying where we are in life. Step out. It may be scary, but the key is keeping our eyes on Jesus. As long as Peter kept his gaze on Jesus, he walked on the water.
He also said that He wants to do amazing things in each of our lives. Sometimes we are so caught up in what is happening to someone else, we are simply amazed. Sometimes we are even envious. Again, He wants our gaze to be on Him. He wants to do great things above and beyond what we can ask or think. Let’s allow Him to be amazing in our lives, too.
And finally, He said that just sitting back and being spectators is not what He wants from us. We are all called to participate in the kingdom. We are called to fix our eyes on Jesus, and let Him begin and end our faith. This requires action, getting out of the boat, and walking by faith in Him.
Get out of the boat. Look to Him. Believe Him to do the amazing. And don’t be a spectator, be a participator!