"During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. Its 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 toward Jesus. 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?" " Matthew 14: 25-31
Peter does not hesitate. The Lord says "come" and Peter stepped out of the boat. Then as he sees what is happening around him, the waves and the wind, uncertainty starts to creep in. I can imagine in Peter's head the thoughts, "Did I hear that correctly? Did the Lord really say to come? I should have thought about this a little more before I got out of the boat. What am I doing, I can't walk on water? Oh dear what have I done?"
And he starts to sink because he allows himself to doubt the call that the Lord has given him to "come".
The other day a dear friend of mine asked me if I knew what ‘positive doubt' was. I had heard a word from the Lord and I allowed doubt to creep in because I did not like the word I had received. I knew I had heard the word clearly, but I did not like it, so I started to doubt it. I doubted that I had heard the word correctly. I doubted that it was what the Lord was saying, because I didn't want to acknowledge it. Positive doubt.
So Peter asked the Lord to call him, and the Lord did. So Peter went, and then began to sink because he didn't think he was capable of doing what the Lord had called him out of the boat to do. Positive doubt.
How often do I do this? How often do I say, okay Lord, Ill go and then start to do something and start to doubt that the Lord actually called me out of the boat?
The Lord is speaking to me about the verse above. He is saying in a loud clear voice, “GET OUT OF THE BOAT, DON'T LOOK BACK, TRUST THAT I HAVE THE PLAN, AND STOP DOUBTING THAT I CAN MAKE YOU WALK ON WATER."
You see, I doubt when I get out of the boat because there are so many things coming at me. The wind will blow me over, the waves will make me sink, I cannot see the path because it goes over the waves that will knock me down. There are many things outside of the boat that will cause me to fall. There are many things outside the boat that will challenge me. There are many things outside of the boat that are OUT OF MY CONTROL.
Hmm…I wonder if that's the point. When the Lord calls us out of the boat, we cannot control what happens. We can't control the waves that come our way, we can't control the wind that blows or the direction of the path. We have to have FAITH and not DOUBT.
The problem is, that when we step out its hard because we cannot see the path that the Lord wants us to take. It's messy. It's not defined. The Lord showed me this morning that it's like a dandelion. When the dandelion runs its course in life and starts to dry up its seeds are ready to be let go. All it takes is a gust of wind for the seeds to become airborne and have NO control of where they go.
When I allow myself to die to the desires of THIS world and allow Christ to be formed in me, I dry up and can be used like a dying dandelion. When the dandelion starts to die and its seeds are ready to be blown around, the seed has no control of where it will go. The Lord said this morning that he wants me to be a dying dandelion. As I become more like Him, I die to myself, and once I really start to die to myself He wants to come and blow on the seeds He has planted in me. When He does this, I will have no control over where I go, because it is HIM that is blowing and guiding me.
So as I step out of the boat (representing the earthly world) and step onto the wave (the kingdom of God) I have to have faith that He is going to blow me in the direction He is calling me. And when I hear the word and the direction He is blowing me, I cannot doubt that it is HIS voice calling. Because when I doubt, I have not let go of the boat and I am still residing in THIS world and not in HIS kingdom.
Will you step out of the boat with me and allow His breath to blow you where He wants you? Or will you hold on to the rail and doubt that He wants to call you to greater things for HIS Kingdom?
Be a dying dandelion today.
