Water-Walking FaithSample

WATER-WALKERS DO

The stage is set. Peter has made his radical request. Jesus has called him out of the boat. Will he sink? Or will he swim (or stand in this case)? The ball is now in his court, and Peter is left with a choice. Do I step back? Or do I step out? His mind would have been racing, his heart would have been pounding. He climbs up onto the ledge of the boat, and slowly raises one foot over the water. His weight shifts from the boat to the sea and as he catches his breath, he realizes – he is walking on water.

Peter had everything he needed; the idea, the intent, the instruction, and the invitation – all that was left was an action. He had to take the step and get out of the boat. Jesus had done His part; it was now up to Peter to DO his. It’s important to understand that we too can have everything we need, but until we are willing to step out, until we are willing to take the risk, until we are willing to do something about it, nothing will ever happen.

In Mark chapter 4, Jesus is teaching on the Parable of the Sower. After explaining the parable to His disciples, Jesus says something that is so fundamental to our faith. “He who has ears, let him hear”. This word in the original Hebrew is the word ‘Shema’. Why is this important? Because this word translates to ‘hear AND obey’. In fact, there is no word in the Hebrew language that just means ‘hear’ alone. To truly hear, means to obey. What I am trying to say is that you can’t HEAR and not DO. Real faith is about hearing the Word and then DOING what it asks. Living it out. Seeing it through. And being obedient to what has been said.

So often, we don’t see the promise, because we aren’t willing to step out and DO what God is calling us to do. Conviction is great, but without action it is pointless. Revelation is powerful but without action it is empty. James 2 reminds us that faith without deeds is DEAD. That is because we can talk about faith, pray about faith, and even sing about faith, but until we DO something, until we step out, until we take the risk, nothing changes.

The reason why we find it so hard, is because we might be too scared to let go of what we know. We have been conditioned for comfort, so we prefer to stick to our plan, stay in our comfort zone and play everything safe. But we will never discover the ‘God call’ on our lives until we step into the unknown.

Several years ago, I was on a beach holiday with my family on the Central Coast of New South Wales. The sun was out, the water was glistening, so my dad decided to hire a boat and head out onto the water for lunch. The first hour of our boat adventure was filled with laughter, joy, and sarcastic impersonations of my mum, until the journey came to an abrupt halt – literally. We had been so lost in our conversation, that we had wandered off the guided path, and had landed ourselves onto a sandbank. We were stuck, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by water, out of mobile phone reception, with a motor that didn’t work. This was not good.

The only option was to jump out of the boat, lift it out of the sand, and see if we could get the motor working again. After a quick family planning meeting it was determined that my dad (the one who got us in this mess in the first place) was going to have to be the one to push us out of it. As he pushed the boat out of the sand, the engine began to start, and the boat started to slowly move forward. We were finally unstuck, but a new issue had arisen – my dad was not in the boat. We tried several times to pull him in, however the speed made it almost impossible to get him back in. By this stage, the boat was cruising around at free will and my father was clinging on to the side of the boat for dear life hoping not to fall into the water.

After going around in circles several times, I realized that we were still over the sandbank. If my dad had LET GO of the boat, he would have easily been able to stand in the water, and eventually get back in the boat. The reality was that the fear of not being able to stand caused him to grip to the boat even tighter.

Here is the lesson I learnt that day. YOU WILL NEVER KNOW IF YOU CAN STAND, UNTIL YOU LET GO OF WHAT YOU KNOW.

The boat represents comfort, safety, and security. It represents what we know; what is comfortable. Yet God has not called us to live IN the boat, He often calls us OUT of the boat, into the uncomfortable, the uneasy and the unknown. It’s only when we choose to LET GO and STEP OUT that we begin to stand on the promises that God has for us out on the water.

We can hear the word. WE can hear the call – but WE need to take the step. The book of James reminds us to be DOERS of the word. Not just hearers. Not just spectators. But doers. And that’s the difference, water-walkers don’t talk – THEY WALK. Today I want to remind you that the ball is in your court. It’s time to let go and step off the boat.

QUESTIONS:

1.What are the things that keep you comfortable? Are there things in your life that are hard to let go of?

2.What do you believe is the next risk-taking faith step that God is leading you to take?