Step Onto The Water

02/28/2011

Good Morning!

When was the last time you walked on water? You can, you know! Peter did! Why can’t we?

Mr. Pennington’s last job before retiring was that of being the caretaker of Camp J.K Orr off of Freeman Road in Clayton County Georgia. In the era of segregation, Camp Orr served as the “black” camp. I have been to both Camp Bert Adams and to Camp J.K. Orr and in my opinion, Camp Orr was the better of the two, although the facilities were not quite as plentiful. It has a great mess hall (that’s where you eat, for the uninitiated) and some nice Adirondacks (sleeping huts); a great fishing dock and a wonderful lake full of fish. I spent quite a number more than one weekend down at the lake fishing. Many times I was by myself … but Mr. P joined me occasionally and sometimes one of his sons would join us.

One March day, Mr. P, his son David and I were down at the lake in Mr. P’s fishing boat. It was on that day I decided to “walk” on the water. Well, actually, I fell out of the boat – if I were being truthful – and I must. Mr. P sprang into action – guiding the bow of the boat to my grasp, pushing me toward shore. David ran up the hill to get the Ford Bronco, turned the heat on full blast, and got me back to safety before I froze. It was quite an exhilarating afternoon.

But enough about my escapades … let’s read Matthew’s account of Peter walking on the water:

Matthew 14:25-33 (New Century Version)
25 Between three and six o'clock in the morning, Jesus came to them, walking on the water.26 When his followers saw him walking on the water, they were afraid. They said, "It's a ghost!" and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus quickly spoke to them, "Have courage! It is I. Do not be afraid."
28 Peter said, "Lord, if it is really you, then command me to come to you on the water."
29 Jesus said, "Come."
And Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. 30 But when Peter saw the wind and the waves, he became afraid and began to sink. He shouted, "Lord, save me!"
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught Peter. Jesus said, "Your faith is small. Why did you doubt?"
32 After they got into the boat, the wind became calm.33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, "Truly you are the Son of God!"

After Jesus fed the 5,000 men (not counting the women and children), He told his disciples to take a boat to the other shore. He went off to pray. While the disciples were making their way across the lake, a storm came up and they really struggled. After nine hours of struggling, they look up and see Jesus strolling across the lake towards the boat. I agree with them. … I would have been frightened. No …. I probably would be petrified. Jesus acts immediately to calm their fears. And that’s where the story gets good … Peter asks to step out of the boat.

You know, if we are going to accomplish anything for the Lord, we are going to have to step out of the boat. We are going to have to put aside our fears and trust God for the result. The disciples were fine in the boat even though they were battling the storm … and so are we. As long as we are on familiar territory, we can “handle” the storms of life. But when we see the opportunity and it’s not in our comfort zone … we become a little relctant.

I love Peter. I love his enthusiasm. And I love his failures because those serve as teaching points to me. Peter was willing to step out of the boat. But then he began to look at his circumstances. Had he kept his eyes on Jesus, he never would have sunk. But when he began worrying about where he was and what he was doing, he sunk like a stone. So that teaches me to keep my eyes on Jesus and trust Him. As Jesus says “why did you doubt?”

Today’s a good day to step out of the boat – not fall out of the boat like I did. Trust Jesus for your today … you might just walk on water!

Agape’

Mr. Jim