‘Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.  Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways‘ (Proverbs 4:25-26)

‘Then Peter got down out of the boat and walked on water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” (Matthew 14:22-23)

How many times have we been Peter?  We were inspired by a scripture to make a change in our life, we ‘step out of the boat’; for a few steps we feel confident and excited about our new found position..we are walking by faith..or so it seems, until we become aware of challenging winds and developing waves.

Sure, we started firmly in Proverbs 4:25 but the pressures are starting to challenge our position, or, we could say, doubts are starting to surface in our mind.  This is the moment, the crossroad, where we put faith to action.  Maintaining focus on Jesus, keeping our gaze fixed on what the Word of God says is how we move beyond circumstances and into true faith.

The key to remember is that Jesus is right there with us.  Yep, Jesus is right there with us.  His Word has not stopped, His strength has not run out, He has not gone off to do something else, He is right there with us!

Walking in faith is by God’s strength, in His grace and under His protection.  Sure we choose, with our God-given free will, to ‘step out of the boat’; we choose to action God’s revealed promise in our life, whatever it is at the time – whether it is believing for healing, believing to step into your calling, believing to love someone you resent.  But once we have made the choice, newsflash, we are meant to walk in God’s strength!

It was never Peter’s strength that kept him walking on the water, it got him out of the boat but the rest was in God’s power.  Likewise for us, we need to keep our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus and His Word, and continue to walk unhindered by how we feel, what we see or what the circumstances may look like.  The possible is what we can do in our own strength, the impossible is what we can do in God’s strength.

I used to think of the account of Peter walking on water as a bit of a ‘failure story’, like, “Gee Peter, you got out of the boat, you took steps, Jesus was right there in front of you and you still began to sink, what more did you need!”  Oh how wrong I was!

Peter walking on water is a story to remind us that we too need to step out of the boat into God’s strength, into the Impossible and keep walking  forward in, and on, the revealed Word of God.  Just as Jesus was revealed before Peter amongst the waves, so to Jesus, the Word of God is revealed before us by the Holy Spirit through the waves of life.

Whenever doubts present, we need to focus on Jesus, what the Word of God says and refuse to accept any thoughts, feelings or emotions that are contrary.  As we lean on the truth of God’s Word, we are strengthened by the hope of the Lord.  The waves recede from view and we can continue forward; onward into the realm of the impossible where God’s grace flows.