Did I just step out of the boat?

Have you ever lined up for a ride at a Theme park, sat down in the carriage, got strapped in, and then thought “What on earth am I doing”, but it’s really a bit too late because they’re about to launch you at some ridiculous speed up to crazy heights and then send you plummeting back down to earth again… The worst is when they take a photo of your face too! Sometimes life feels like that hey?!


I was reading in Matthew 14 about that time when Jesus comes walking across the lake, on the water that is, and the Disciples see Him and think He’s a ghost, but Jesus says “It’s all cool, it’s just me” (paraphrased version). Peter, in the Message version “suddenly bold” says, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.” Jesus simply says “Come ahead.”

So the question, was it at that moment, or the next moment that Peter had “a moment” – clearly it was the next moment, because it says, “Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink.”

I LOVE this!! Peter was so awesome, he was this guy (who reminds me of myself) who had these crazy moments of boldness, moments were he jumped out of the boat (literally) and began to walk on water! Then that same guy full of boldness, has a “moment”, a “what on earth am I doing” moment, a “did I really just jump out of the boat and start walking on water” kind of moment. And it’s at that moment that he begins to sink…

I feel like I have had multitudes of those moments in my life! Probably the biggest for us has been the decision (and the follow through) to move States (twice!) and be obedient to what we felt God was asking us to do. It’s funny because people say to me, “Oh you look like everything’s going so great and you’re having heaps of fun”, but let’s be honest, we don’t usually post the selfies of us crying our eyes out or of the mundane moment by moment of unpacking boxes or of the moments when you really want to go hang out with your mum or that great friend but they’re thousands of KMs away… No, we post the pictures of the fun – which is important because you need to find the good and the fun amongst the challenges, but I think it’s good to keep a bit of perspective and remember that EVERY time God calls us to that moment of boldness, that “I’m going to jump out of the boat” moment, which can be daily, that there will without doubt, be moments that follow where we do realise what we’ve done and perhaps begin to sink.

BUT, how amazing is our Jesus, the Message version says, “Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, ‘Faint-heart, what got into you?'”

Seriously, how great is God?!! I love that just like with Peter, He is right there with you, right HERE with you even now! That WITHOUT hesitation, He reaches out grabs your hand, He lifts you up and carries you, He holds you tight while you pour out your heart to Him, and He says ‘Hey, it’s OK, I’ve got you, but my beautiful child, what got into you? You were so bold, what happened?’ Fact is, He already knows what happened, maybe life threw a little curve ball at us, maybe we took our eyes off Jesus, maybe we went a bit off track, maybe it was completely unavoidable…

Whatever it was, whatever made you start to sink and move away from that moment of boldness, know this: 1) It’s OK to have those moments and 2) He’s right there with you, holding out His hand, ready to continue on the journey together!

Peter is a favourite of mine, he lives life with tenacity, often doesn’t think through the whole situation, just charges ahead gung-ho, but he also was a person whom Jesus called the rock, upon whom Jesus chose to build His church, through whom many lives were powerfully impacted!

I’m not sure where you’re standing right now, whether it’s in the boat, walking on the water, sinking fast, just jumped into Jesus’ arms… But wherever you’re at, know that life is an amazing adventure, full of ups and downs, twists and turns, but with Jesus it is the most incredible journey that you’ll ever go on and He makes it all worthwhile. Turn to Him today, jump out of the boat today, grab His hand today and continue on!

Thanks for reading… I so appreciate you, believe in you and know that God’s heart is fully for you!

Jodes. x