Water walkers

None of us will literally walk on water in this world.

I believe I can safely write that.

Yet, Jesus did - and so did the apostle Peter - for a moment.

In the midst of a storm (with huge waves, strong winds and in the middle of the darkness of the night), Jesus comes along and asks Peter to get out of the boat and walk to Him.

And Peter gets out - and promptly falls.

As John Ortberg writes, "It is the story of failure.  Or is it?  Raise your hand if you've ever failed a test, if you've ever been cut from a team, if you ever did not get a job or a promotion you wanted, if you've ever been impatient with a three-year-old, if you've ever said the wrong thing or eaten with the wrong fork or won synthetic fibers - if you've experienced failure of any kind."

And the gist of his book, "If you want to walk on the water - you have to get out of the boat" is that God did not intend for you or me, created in His divine image to go through life in a desperate attempt to avoid failure.

Yesterday, in our staff meeting, we unintentionally were dialoguing and telling stories of our mistakes and failures in ministry. 

I still, personally, feel bad about the mistakes I have made.

And yet, at the same time, God calls us to keep on going - and not only keep on going - but reaching out to do greater things,  things that will succeed if only God is in it.

Did Peter fail?  Yes, in one sense.  His faith gave way.

He couldn't stay focused on Jesus.  He sank.  He failed. 

But let me tell you this:  there were eleven bigger failures in the boat who failed privately, quietly, safe, unnoticed, uncriticized.

Only Peter  knew the thrill, the joy and the exhilaration of walking on water - even for a moment.

Here's the punch line:  I would rather get out of the boat and fail - than sit in the boat and never try.

Just a thought for a Wednesday.