Stepping Out in Faith - Follow Jesus

In the fall of 2017, I remember preaching about Peter walking to Jesus on the water (Matt. 14:22-33). When I was a kid, my favorite part of the story was Peter stepping out on the water. What a step of faith! And even though he became distracted and sank, still none of the other disciples were clamoring to get out of the boat.

But not anymore. Now another part of the story caught my attention. Jesus didn’t just call Peter to step out to Him. Peter asked for it. Peter stood in the boat and said, “Lord, if that’s you, command me to come to you on the water.”

Peter asked Jesus to call him out. He asked the Lord to command him to do something impossible. To do something he’d never seen done. To do something that he couldn’t possibly do on his own.

I meet thousands of Christians every year. Some are struggling. Some are in sin. Some are passionately following Christ. But I meet very few believers who are willing to say, “Lord, call me to do something that I’m not smart enough for. Call me to do something I’m not strong enough for. Call me to do something that I don’t have the resources for. Call me to do something that is so far beyond my abilities that when it is done, everybody will say, ‘That had to be God because it surely couldn’t have been him.'”

As I preached this, I began to realize that selling our house, getting rid of a lot of the “stuff” we had collected over the years and moving into an RV was very small compared to the great work that I feel that the Lord is desiring to do in our family. But it all begins with a step of faith.

How can we do this? How are going to make it? What is it going to be like? How will this affect our family? Our finances? So many questions but the answers really aren’t needed. Peter didn’t ask how this was possible. He didn’t ask for anything, except to be called. Faith doesn’t need all the answers to simply trust–You don’t need for God to give you all the information to simple step out.

Peter left the comfort and security of the boat and stepped onto the water. And he was fine as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. And, so will we. We’ll be fine as long as we keep our eyes on Christ.