Last summer I read a great book by John Ortberg called "If you want to walk on water, get out of the boat!" Occasionally I will read a new book and will see that it makes my heart sing and my stomach to churn, and this was one of those works. In it, Ortberg unpacks in great detail the story from Matthew 14:22-36 where Jesus meets the disciples in the middle of the night in the middle of a lake while he is walking on water and they are struggling to control their boat. Once they recognize Jesus, Peter, who is in the boat, says to the Lord "Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” And Jesus immediately replied with some really challenging words: "yes, come." Peter then proceeds to get out of the boat and walk, but soon afterward he began to see the wind and the waves around him and began to sink. The frightened Peter cries out for Jesus to save him, and Jesus lifts him up out of the water while commenting that he had so little faith.
Boats are safe places to be in generally. They keep us afloat in large bodies of water that are sometimes freezing cold, full of hazards like tree stumps or rocks or fish that will eat us. They also keep us safe from storms that would drown us if we tried to swim on our own. It is good to stay in the boat at all times until our journey is over. So why get out of one?
I think for most people "boats" can take many forms. First for many are their careers. Careers are great in that you are able to excel, take on more responsibility, and make an increasing amount of money doing that. Careers are safe and provide security for yourself and your family. Careers give many people meaning in their life as they find joy in pursuing them and in making a name for themselves out of it. For others, their boat may be their financial situation. In America many Christians are particularly afraid of getting out of this boat. Bank accounts and savings and investments give us security and insulation from the storms of life. In America we take pride in being able to buy ourselves out of many uncomfortable situations. Other boats can include where we live, whether it is a particular neighborhood or particular state or particular country. There is safety in the familiar confines of the place where we live. For others, their boat is living daily life with extended family.
I sensed in reading this that God was laying down a challenge to me to get out of the boat. I had a very strong sense of this, but knew that I wasn't in the middle of a lake in a boat. What could this mean? What boat was I in that I needed to step out of?
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| This was the spot in North Cascades National Park where I began praying about getting out of the boat. |
Prayers like this can be scary because the leave so much open for the Lord to do, and that's why most of us, myself included, rarely pray them! It has been a recurring joke in churches I have attended that you should never pray for two things: more faith and more patience. Why? Because no matter how fervently you pray, you are not going to wake up some morning and suddenly have great faith that can move mountains and trust Jesus in anything and everything. It would be nice if it worked that way because we could then pray "Lord, make me fit and in shape and strong," and could wake up the next day with superhuman strength and energy. But it doesn't work that way in fitness and it won't work that way in praying for faith or patience. You won't suddenly have patience for people and circumstances that will endure through any circumstance. Instead, what will happen is that you will be placed in more situations that will require faith. And you will find yourself among people and circumstances that require a greater measure of patience. In those conditions, faith and patience have a chance to grow because they are required in greater measure, and we have to rely on the Lord to provide them. That's part of God's plan!
As it turns out the boat that the Lord intended to get me out of is my career. He has challenged me to step over the side, place my foot into stormy waters, and to stand up and walk. This represents a deliberate movement toward him and an equally deliberate movement away from the sure and certain of a career in public education, a career that I enjoy immensely. The walking on water begins with stepping into full time Christian ministry, something that I have never done before and have no experience with. Sure I have served in various capacities in churches, including right now, but it has always been done in addition to my career instead of being done as just part of what I do.
I will begin more regular postings here once again in an effort to show what is happening on this journey with the Lord. I'll first lay out the case for how I knew God was telling me to "go." I'm doing this for the same reason that I have always posted: I'm hoping you can learn something from it and apply it to your own life. I strongly believe that the experience the Lord has called me and my family to is not unique. Search the Bible if you don't believe me! Look at the sheer number of people in the Bible whose lives were interrupted and took a turn they did not expect. Look for people who heard the Lord tell them to do something frightening, challenging, or crazy and see what He did in their lives as a result. Water walking isn't just part of the Christian experience. It is the Christian experience! So pray that the Lord will open your eyes to the boat that He wants you to step out of, and pray for the courage to obey. You'll never be the same, and you'll never go on a better adventure or learn more about the character of Jesus than you will in those moments.
