Getting out of the boat means getting out of your comfort zone. It means doing something you’ve never done before. I’m not talking about jumping out of an airplane, or going bungee jumping. I’m talking about doing something you’ve always wanted to do. Many people have dreams burning on the inside of them, but they are afraid to step out and pursue them. They are afraid to step out of their comfort zone, because they are afraid of the unknown. Let’s look at the story of Peter walking on the water. In Matthew 14: 25-31 it says:
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous,[b] he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
Peter wanted to experience what Jesus was experiencing and wanted it so bad that he stepped out. He started walking on the water. Something that is totally impossible in the natural. There may be something that you want to do, that in your eyes, it seems impossible. You might want to start a business. You may want to go back to school; but now you’re married with children and working, so you’re wondering where you will find the time. Sometimes there can seem to be too many obstacles standing between you and your dream. Sometimes those obstacles look like insurmountable mountains. But I have good news for you: there is nothing too hard for God! The Bible says that all things are possible to them that believe. Can you believe God to pay for school? Can you believe God for the money to get that business started? Well like Jesus said, “Be it unto you according to your faith”. In the Message translation it reads, “Become what you believe”.
When Jesus told Peter, “Come”, Peter believed in the words of Jesus and he started doing the impossible. We have to do the same thing. We must meditate the Word of God and think on the Word of God until we know that we can become what we believe. Peter was doing fine until he took his eyes off of Jesus and began looking at the waves and turning his attention to how hard the wind was blowing. It was only then that he began to sink.
We must take our eyes off of circumstances. Yes, the circumstances are real. Yes, we have to count the cost before we step out. But we must remember that once we know that we are in the will of God, and God is telling us to step out, we must be like Moses when he was facing the Red Sea. Pharaoh and his army were behind him and the Red Sea was in front of him. God didn’t tell him, “I’m sorry man. I wasn’t prepared for the Red Sea. I guess you’re stuck”. No. God told him to stretch out that rod and move forward. When Moses did, God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites walked on dry land. It would have been okay if the Israelites walked on muddy ground, but the Bible says the Israelites walked on dry ground! When God tells us to move, we must trust that He will go before us and make the crooked places straight. Remember Jesus told Peter to come out on the water. We must step out when Jesus tells us to. We must move when we are prompted in our spirits and when we know that we are in God’s timing.
I graduated from ministry school at the end of 2012. At the beginning of 2013, I began the process of getting on one radio station and I was attempting to get on a public access station here in Charlotte, but the timing was not right. My pastor told me to wait on God’s timing and get busy working in my church, so that is what I did. It wasn’t until this year (2017) that I began ministering the Word of God on the radio; and starting October 15, I will be on Inspiration.tv. What I am doing now, I wanted to do four years ago, but God has timing. It’s natural to want to pursue the dream that God has given you, but we must seek His will and His timing. God knows when we are ready to walk in our calling, but we must wait on His promotion. The Bible says in Psalms 75:6-7,
For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor form the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one and setteth up another.
God is the judge and we must trust His timing when it comes to promotion. God told Joshua in Joshua 3:7,
And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee.
We must look to God for our day, but God knows when we are ready to be launched into our calling in the eyes of the people. It is our job to be diligent in our preparation and know that we will reap in due season if we faint not. We must not put our trust in man. Our trust must be in God. Man can be flaky. Man can change his mind, but God will not change His mind concerning us. We must step out in God’s timing and know that when we do, we have no choice but to succeed for if God is for us, who can be against us? Peter tried to walk on water like Jesus, but He was not where Jesus was spiritually. Peter had not put the prayer time in. He did not study the Word like Jesus did, and yet He wanted to do what Jesus did. Eventually in the Book of Acts, Peter would do the acts of Jesus, but it was after spending time in prayer, in the Word, and being filled with the Holy Ghost. It wasn’t until after that, that he began healing the sick, to the point that his shadow was healing people. So many times we think we can do what someone else is doing but we must realize that until we have paid the same dues, we won’t have the same outcome.
God has great plans for us. He wants us to step out of the boat that we are currently in; but when we do, we have to make sure He has called us out of the boat, and we must make sure we are prepared for what is outside our boat. When we are, and we start walking, get ready! You are about to do the impossible!