"Stepping Out Of The Boat"

October 26, 2021 | By Chuck

            I wonder sometimes if we’re a little too tough on the apostle Peter.  He made some mistakes and certainly wasn’t perfect, but he also demonstrated a lot of faith at times.  Do you remember that time Peter walked on water?  We usually refer to that story as the time Jesus walked on water and Peter nearly drowned because he took his eyes off Jesus.  But Peter did walk on water, at least he did for a short time.  “But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I.  Do not be afraid.”  And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.”  He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus” (Mt. 14:27-29).

            Of course, we know the rest of the story where Peter takes his eyes off Jesus and begins to sink in the water, but that’s not what I want to focus on.  Think about the faith of Peter.  We hardly give him credit for the great faith he displays in this story.  Did you see it?  Have you ever stepped out of a boat into the middle of the lake thinking you’d successfully walk on the water?  Sounds pretty ridiculous I know, but that’s what Peter did.  The phrase, “Peter got out of the boat” says so much about Peter’s faith. 

            Sure, Peter took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink, but at least he got out of the boat.  Do you ever take your eyes off of Jesus and sink into the depths of this sinful and broken world?  I know you do. I know you do because I do too.  In fact, we all at times remove our eyes from Jesus and focus on the world.  The real question that describes what kind of faith we have is, do you ever step out of the boat?   Far too many Christians become comfortable where they are in the boat of their comfort zone and they never challenge their faith by stepping out of the boat.  It challenges our faith to try something we haven’t done before or to look at something from a different perspective, but those are the moments that grow and mature our faith the most.