Let Go of the Boat

Matthew 14: 28-29 “Lord if it is 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 toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, cried out “Lord, save me!”

Many of my greatest joys and memories in life involves water skiing.  My brother and I (as well as most of my friends) grew up on the water skiing at a small lake house my parents owned about one hour from our home.  We would get up at sunrise and ski until noon when others came out and the lake got rough.  Then we would ride motorcycles from noon till about 5 when everyone would get off of the lake to eat and ski again until it was too dark to see. Great memories of both family and friends on that lake.

One of my personal joys though is to teach someone to ski.  I get more enjoyment out of pulling others behind a boat than I do to skiing myself sometimes (OK I confess, if the water is glass, I might get a little more enjoyment with someone pulling me…). Over the years with youth groups and at a camp in Missouri called Kanakuk Kamp, I’ve been involved in teaching literally thousands of kids to ski.  Some didn’t even know how to swim.  That takes faith….

In one situation in college, while I was playing college baseball, during spring breaks we would have games scheduled, so most of the guys on the team never had a chance to go home.  If we had a day or two off, I’d always invite them to come with me to the lake to get some skiing in, that is if we could stand the cold water in March in Oklahoma.  One year I remember  bringing Stan along with a few other guys from the team.  Stan didn’t know how to swim.  After everyone else had their turn skiing, I talked Stan into giving it a try.  I can’t imagine the fear he must have felt putting on the ski jacket and slipping over the side of the boat for the first time.  I remember him holding onto the side of the boat so tight his fingers were turning white.

After about 5 minutes he still had not let go of the side of the boat so I jumped into the water with a life vest on and tried to show him how it kept you afloat.  Still he would not let go.  I kept saying, “Stan, you will never experience what this is like unless you let go of the boat!”  Eventually he let go, learned to trust the life vest, and learned to ski.  He ended up making it up on his second try and after that we could not get him off of the skis.

One of my favorite stories in scripture that relates to what Stan experienced is in Matthew 14:22-36.

The disciples and Jesus had been going through a roller coaster of a time.  Jesus had recently been informed that his dearest friend, John the Baptist had been beheaded.  This hit Jesus hard as indicated by his need to be alone and get away from both the disciples and the crowds.  The crowds and disciples, however, kept finding him wanting to be around Him and experience His teaching and miracles.  Despite Jesus grieving, he ends up feeding the more than 5000 people with only a small amount of bread and fish for food.

When this is over he sends the disciples on their way in a boat to the other side of the lake telling them he would catch them later.  Little did they know what catching them later meant!

That evening with the disciples in the boat the wind picks up, it gets a bit rough, even to the point of being a bit scary inside the boat.  Low and behold they look out across the water and see Jesus walking to them on the water.  Imagine being in that boat and seeing what they are seeing.  Sometimes when we are just floating in the boat I will stick my feet out and barely put them on top of the water and think,  what would that feel like, walking on water?”  I guess the closest people can ever sense that is when they learn to barefoot or ski with only your feet, but even that is not the same.

Well Peter, known for sticking his foot in his mouth throughout the New Testament, yells out saying “Jesus if that is you, I want to walk on water too.”  Peter must have felt his heart sink when Jesus replied to him to come on then….the same feeling Stan had when we told him it was his turn.  Just like Stan, Peter had the pressure of the other disciples looking on wondering if he has the courage to follow through.

If you put yourself in Peters shoes, how do you really see that scene actually play out?  I don’t think that Peter just leaps over the side of the boat and starts walking to Jesus.  If it were me, I would have timidly put my hand on the side of the boat and slowly move my feet over the boat.  Slowly put my feet on the water.  Test it out first.  Make sure I have a firm foundation.  I would then try to pull the boat along with me until I reached Jesus.  Anything to be able to keep the security of the boat within my reach.

So when did Peter really experience the miracle of walking on water?  It wasn’t until he let go of the boat that he experiences a miracle in his life.  He had to let go of the one security he had control of in his life at that time.  Totally and completely put himself at the mercy of Jesus.  I think it is hard for us to experience a lot of what God might have for us as well because we hold so tightly to securities in our lives.

As I think about this story, I wonder how often have I missed out on miracles God might have had for me because I was holding onto a security in my life so hard my knuckles and finger were turning white.   No, I think when we are able to totally and completely let go of our securities in areas that are important to our lives, only then will we truly and completely experience the miracles God has for us.

I have to start asking, what are my securities in my life?  How tightly am I holding on to them?  Are there any I need to let go of where God is maybe wanting to show me a miracle?  I can think of a few boats I’m still holding on to and need to let go of….how about you?