Get out of the boat!

 

Get out of the boat!

In a week’s time you won’t recognize my house…I’ve moved. Itwasn’t easy though, I was pretty comfortable where I was at but I wasn’t movingforward. In a rut and I felt like I was sitting in a pool of comfortable andwarm water that was slowly evaporating around me. I didn’t want to be left highand dry. God never leaves us high and dry, only we can do that to ourselves.Would you like to move forward in your relationship with Christ?

Excuse the expression but have you ever got the “crap”knocked out of you? A few years ago I was in a rut; going nowhere fast; anddigging a hole that only God could get me out of. Then God, in love, knockedthe “crap” out of me…stripped me of everything I thought was me. Everything Ithought was holy; everything I thought I was doing right; everything I thoughtI knew; and everything I thought I believed correctly… he took away.

I was in a rut and didn’t even know it… Haveyou ever felt like you’ve been in a rut? Are you satisfied with where you areat? Some people I know have dreams, visions or ministries locked up deep insideof them and don’t know how to get to the next level or are afraid to go. InMatthew 14:22-34 is the famous boat seen. You know, where Peter walks on water,till he doubts? I love this passage and it’s a popular teaching verse. Why? Itdeals with moving forward in our faith; getting out of our ruts and trustingthe father.


Matthew 14:22-34 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get intothe boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed thecrowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself topray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat wasalready a considerable distance from land, buffeted by thewaves because the wind was against it.  Duringthe fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. Whenthe disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's aghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said tothem: "Take courage! It is I don’t beafraid." "Lord, if it's you," Peterreplied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and cametoward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraidand, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesusreached out his hand and caught him. "You oflittle faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And whenthey climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who werein the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

The thing that really strikes me about this passagethough is not the fact that Jesus and Peter walked on water. It’s not the factthat Peter doubted and had to be rescued by Jesus. It’s not just the teachingthat we need to have immense faith in God. It’s the people still in the boatthat really speaks to me. Peter left the boat and walked on water…his faith grewjust by stepping out. The others in the boat didn’t show that type of faith.They huddled on the boat afraid to step out.

They were in a rut…there fear of new adventures, experiencesand stepping into uncomfortable situations kept them in a rut. God can seem tobe a security blanket and in in some ways he is. We have a tendency to thinkthat as long as we pray and read his word God will protect and take care of us…right?Reading the bible and praying are basic needs in our relationship with God butnot at the expense of creating stagnation or causing us to be in a rut.

One of the greatest battles we fight is that of thefamiliar, Even though something or someplace may be dry, desolate, anddifficult once we become familiar with it we become comfortable with it. Onceit becomes comfortable to us, we resist anything that threatens our normalityor our familiar. We must step out of the boat in faith if you want to get outof your rut. You must step out of the boat in faith if we want to get to thenext level.

I am leaving my home at the end of this week, packing up andstarting over again. I don’t know about you but there are some things I amready to leave behind. I’m ready to leave behind some doubts, and fears, anddiscouragements, and disappointments. I’m ready to leave behind some enemiesthat I’ve been fighting; I’m ready to leave behind some traditions that have nopower.

I’m ready to leave behind some excess baggage that’s been slowing me down. Manytimes moving is difficult because you are leaving the familiar, thecomfortable, the normal. One of the greatest motivations for moving to the nextlevel is, “I am more afraid of staying where I am than of moving into theunknown.”


This next level that God is calling you to is going to take a faith step intothe unknown.