Walking on the Wordنموونە

“And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on water to go to Jesus.”

Matthew 14:28–29 KJV

What do you do when you know that there is more or that there is a ‘next’ awaiting you, but there is something that keeps you from moving forward? What do you do when God is calling you to take action, but you just can’t seem to take the next step? Perhaps it’s fear that keeps you paralyzed, or maybe it’s simply that the thought of it all seems so improbable or even downright impossible. And let’s not dismiss the fact that there are times when the Lord beckons, and if we are honest, we simply don’t want to go where the Lord is asking us to go. Well, wherever you may find yourself today, know that you are not alone. You are not the first person that God has asked the seemingly impossible of. While the ask He has of you may be different from the ask He has for the next person reading this, the one thing that remains true for everyone is that He never asks us to do something that He won’t equip us to do. So, if He asks, He will also equip. Let’s look at a Bible story to see what happened when Jesus asked a man to do the impossible.

There once was a man named Peter. He was a disciple, or follower of Jesus. Chapter 14 of Matthew tells how Jesus fed 5,000 men, plus women and children. After this, Jesus tells his disciples to get on a ship and go to the other side so that He could be alone to pray. The disciples did as they were told, but when the ship was in the middle of the sea, strong winds picked up and began to toss the ship along the waves. During the night, while the disciples’ boat was being rocked by the waves, Jesus decides to take a little walk on the water.

While Jesus was walking on the water, the disciples on the boat saw him. The Scripture says they became fearful, not knowing it was Him. Jesus assured the disciples that it was He and told them not to be afraid. Well, Peter, wanting to know whether it really was Jesus or not, challenges Jesus and asks Jesus to tell him to come out on the water if it was really him. Jesus responds and says, “Come.” Whoa! Jesus was walking on the water and now He asks Peter to do the same. Now Peter, hearing the summons from Jesus to come to Him, got out of the boat and began to do the impossible. Peter walked on water; he walked on water to go to Jesus.

Now what’s interesting about this passage is that when Jesus summoned Peter, He didn’t give Peter a lesson on how gravity would be defied and how the water would be able to support him. Jesus simply said, “Come.” He spoke a word; a word that was enough for Peter.

At the word of Jesus, Peter got out of the boat and walked on water. There were others on the boat. There were others that saw Jesus walking on the water, but it was only Peter that did the impossible. So, what was it exactly that allowed Peter to accomplish this miraculous feat? There were two crucial factors at work. The first was Peter’s sight line. Peter’s eyes were fixed on Jesus. As long as his eyes were fixed on the One that bid him to come, Peter was able to defy gravity and do the miraculous.

The second factor at work was Peter’s faith in the word spoken by Jesus. Peter was on a ship in the middle of the ocean. Jesus told Peter to come to him on the water and Peter stepped out of the boat in obedience. Now, at face value, this may sound like it was foolish of Peter to jump out of the boat, but Peter had history with the Lord. He knew for a fact that the Lord only wants what’s best for us. Peter knew of Jesus’ miracle-working power and so he knew that if the Lord said a thing, then He could also make it good. So, Peter fixed his eyes on Jesus and took Jesus at His Word. Jesus said, “Come,” and Peter did just that. Peter got out of the ship to walk on the water to Jesus. Peter walked on the Word of God.

Jesus told Peter to “Come,” but what has the Lord spoken to you? What is it that you sense the Lord asking you to do? Is it something seemingly impossible or improbable, like walking on water? Or is it something that seems well beyond your capabilities or even strikes a bit of fear in your heart? Whatever it is the Lord speaks and asks of you, we must recall, like Peter, that He only wants the best for us. We must, like Peter, set our sight line on Jesus and take the leap of faith and walk on the word that God has spoken to us.

Now, I know that when God is asking us to move out of our comfort zone, it’s often easier said than done. If we can be honest, sometimes it’s downright scary. So, I invite you to join me on a journey over the next seven days as we embark on a journey that will strengthen you and encourage you to move forward in the things that the Lord is speaking to you.

This devotional is specifically written for anyone that senses the Lord asking you to take a leap and move forward in faith. This devotional will walk you through coming into agreement and acceptance of what the Lord has called you to do. Once you have come into agreement, we will move into the action phase in which we begin taking steps toward the fulfillment of the assignment and then the devotional concludes with encouragement to continue to move forward once the initial excitement has faded and the real work to keep going has begun.

Each day of the devotional starts with a theme and focus verse for meditation. Every message concludes with an opportunity to reflect and apply the focus for the day. And lastly, each day concludes with a prayer prompt. The prayer prompt is designed to be a launching board for you to go to the Lord in prayer about that day’s message.

So, whether, you are taking a first step on a new project or assignment, pursuing a God given dream, continuing in an existing assignment or making a pivot away from that which is known and comfortable, whatever the case may be, Jesus is summoning you to a place of greater faith in the word that He has spoken. He desires to accomplish something that is seemingly impossible, through you!

So, if you are ready to Walk on the Word of God, let’s get started.