It's Time to Step Out of the Boat

Peter walking on water (found in Matthew 14:22-33) was an amazing thing. I remember once seeing one of those Science How Do They Do It type programmes where a swimming pool was filled with custard and because of the consistency of the custard, a person was able to ‘walk on water’. The thing is, Peter didn’t walk on custard because Science proved that it was possible because of the molecules, and all that stuff (Science Scholars, please forgive me, but Science was not my strongest subject at school). Peter walked on water because he, at that moment in time, kept looking at Jesus and trusted in the God of the universe who knew that outside of a miracle, it wasn’t possible for man to walk on water!

But Jesus wanted to show Peter, the Disciples, and us that with God, all things are possible. With faith we can do greater things than what even Jesus did. So, if Jesus walked on water, and we can do greater things than He did, then we can walk, dance and do whatever we like on water. 

Now I’m not in any way trying to be flippant here.  And I’m not suggesting that you go and find a swimming pool and literally try and walk on water.  I’m trying to convince myself, and hopefully you too, that we are more than able to do what God asks of us. That when we keep our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus, then we won’t have our eyes fixed on the circumstances or storms of life that are buffeting us from every side. When we keep our gaze on our Beloved, then we will see only the possible, and we will have faith for the signs, wonders and miracles that we long to see Jesus doing today. When our whole lives are focused on the Father who loves us with an everlasting love, and Who knows the plans that HE has for us, then being in His Will and following Him obediently will be the greatest joy in our lives.

That’s a great encouragement for our every-day lives. However, I believe that God is asking us to position ourselves so that we are ready to step out of the boat and walk on water because that’s the kind of radical faith we’re going to need in the coming days, months and years.

I believe that God is positioning us for Revival like never before seen. This Revival is for EVERYONE, not just a select few.  ALL CHRISTIANS need to be prepared and ready to participate in this Revival. How, then, do we prepare ourselves for what is coming soon?

One of the greatest areas we need to deal with is that we need to be careful what we’re influenced by. We need to not have our eyes on the ‘storms’ around us, or even our successes and achievements, but to gaze purely on the face of Jesus. 

We are so easily influenced these days - yes, even as Christians. We have Social Media convincing us all the time of ‘stuff’ that is of the world. We have ‘Gossip Rags’ that gossip about things and we take that as absolute truth. We may read a report about how an actor was cast in a role to play a real-life person, but how they were influenced, positively or negatively, about that person and now believe a different report about that person. All the more reason to be influenced by Jesus alone, and to only take the report of Holy Spirit and the written Word and not to cast our eyes to the right or to the left, but to follow on the Highway of Holiness and run the race that’s set before us with our eyes on the end goal, which is eternity with Jesus.

Another area that I believe God is asking us to deal with is the idols in our lives. What possession or position are you holding onto above Jesus? Is your bank balance more important than your ability to be generous? What’s holding you back – fear, jealousy, poverty, etc.? What’s stopping you from getting out of the boat? And, are you aware of the idols in your life that you are looking at more than you are looking at Jesus?

An idol is anything that holds our focus and attention, and takes it off of Jesus. An idol is not always a physical thing (i.e. a statue of a ‘foreign god’), it can be an emotional tie, it can be a position in Ministry, a Job position. It can be pride. 

When we hold onto the ‘idols’ in our lives we cannot move into that place of FULL surrender and submission to the call of God on our lives. 

I believe in the Revival that’s coming God needs our full surrender and for us to trust Him with all of our hearts. He needs us to be certain of our giftings and callings and for us to operate in those, and not try and imitate other people. He needs us to realise that our giftings, calling, talents and abilities are unique to us. And that EVERYTHING and EVERYONE works TOGETHER for good and the glory of God. More than that, He wants us spending time in the Secret Place with Him, getting to know His heart and ways so that our thoughts align with His thoughts, and when we do things or say things, we won’t need to question if they are of God because we’ll know that they are.

As we move into 2023, let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, give up our own agendas, mindsets and philosophies and only look to Jesus and the Kingdom of God. When we’re obedient to Him, we will step out of the Boat and Walk on Water for the Kingdom. We will see Revival and rejoice in the Harvest that He’s promising us.

Be blessed

Jean