We cannot contain Him to a time and a place and a nation. We cannot hold on to Him, He is beyond our grasp, we cannot understand all that there is to know about Him, He is beyond our capability to think.
We can invite Jesus into our existence, ‘our boat’ – but there is a far greater invitation. An invitation for us to live our lives in His pre-existence upon even the stormy waters of life.
“Later that night, he was there alone, and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. ‘It’s a ghost,’ they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ ‘Lord, if it’s you,’ Peter replied, ‘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 came towards Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’ And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” (Matthew 14 v 23-33)
Jesus calls to us “come”. But the territory between the boat and Jesus often looks impossible. The only way to walk in the impossible is to stop trusting your boat and start trusting your Saviour. There is a big difference. Trusting the boat is easy. You can touch it, it feels secure. There are always other people in the boat and if they’re okay then you will be also. It is tangible, you are safe in numbers.
So often we want to get out of that experience on the boat and expect that trusting Jesus will bring the same feelings – the feelings on the water are not the feelings on the boat.
Peter was not walking on a bridge or stepping stones, but water with the wind and waves against him. This was a very hard thing for Peter to do – it took a lot of strength for Peter to walk against those winds. How did he do it when there was nothing tangible under His feet?
At that moment Peter was a God chaser, a true follower of Jesus. His Spirit was in control of his flesh. His mind was crying out “this is not safe!!!”
You can take a leap of faith. It will not feel safe, it will not feel like the boat feels, you will feel that things have gotten worse. You may be tempted to think whether or not this was a good idea. But with your eyes on Jesus it is more than possible for you to do what you have never ever done before. It is possible for you to leave people behind in their comfort zones as you become all you can become for God.
Missions Paul 