Out of the Boat

Back in the fall I knew this moment was coming.  I didn’t know when or where it would be, but I knew the moment was coming- the one where Jesus said to get out of the boat and come toward him on the water.  Though we had no idea where the location would be, or what the situation would be, I knew a couple months in to our journey of transition that God was preparing my heart to be uprooted.  In the beginning, I didn’t want to admit it.  I was so hopeful our call back into ministry would find us close enough that I could keep the teaching job I love, that we could stay in the house I love, that much of what was familiar could stay the same, but fairly quickly God began whispering in my soul that this would not be the case.  He kept reminding me, that he was preparing my heart to go. 

Words like “go” and “come” are so small, and seem so simple, but can be hard to make happen sometimes.  It seems like my toddler always wants to do the opposite “COME here, and help Mommy pick up your toys,” does not always result in him right beside me.  “Please GO play with your toys while Mommy makes dinner,” ALWAYS results in him right beside me.  The dog wants to COME in when she isn’t supposed to, but doesn’t want to GO back out when I ask.  Third graders want to GO to the bathroom right in the middle of class, but when given a whole-group break to do so always COME straight back to the line without a break to be first in line.

The account in Matthew 14 of Jesus walking on the water has long been one of my favorite stories of the New Testament, but it wasn’t until after a recent sermon that I went back and took a closer look at the story.  Somehow, one of the main realities I often overlooked in that story is that the disciples in the boat were struggling with a storm.  It says the boat was being “buffeted by the waves, because the wind was against it” about the time that Jesus heads across the lake walking on the water.  And it is while the wind is still blowing that Peter asks Jesus for confirmation that it is really Him by calling “Lord, if it’s you tell me to come to you on the water.” And Jesus simply answers… “Come.”  That’s when Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.  I can only imagine what that fear felt like, but I can also only imagine how COOL it must have been to experience WALKING ON THE WATER!! And I realized something else, Peter only got to experience walking with Jesus like never before when he was willing to do something he had never done before… at Jesus’s call “Come” he stepped out of the boat. 

Several weeks ago, while we were still feeling the effects of the wind and the waves, we heard Jesus say “Come.”  We were at a church in Southern Illinois, and something just felt different about it.  Through the process of preparing to go back into ministry we have been in SO many wonderful churches, and met SO many amazing people, but finding just the right fit for both the church and the minister’s family is a tricky process.  Since the very, very beginning of our search we prayed for clarity.  Clarity that we would always KNOW either yes, this is it, or no, not yet.  When friends and family asked how they could pray for us, we have always used the word “clarity.”  With a few friends it even became almost comical because they would ask how to pray, and then chuckle and say “I know, I know, CLARITY.”  While this church had many of ministry aspects we were looking for as a family, God also made it clear He had a plan for us there too.  Before church that day, one of the elders asked to pray with (A) and I in a little prayer room off to the side of the hall.  Of course we said yes, and as he prayed for us and the church that morning in that little room, he specifically asked God to give us all CLARITY.  And I began to cry, because you see he had no idea that was our “word”, our key phrase, the one thing we had specifically been praying about for months.  After the prayer was over and he walked out of the room, I looked at (A) through my tears and said, “There’s no way he could have known.” To which (A) agreed, no, there’s no way.  That was our call from God, “Come.” 

And a few weeks later when it was finalized, (A) and I realized this is our chance to step out of the boat.  We are leaving our home, our friends, our family, my beloved teaching job, things I NEVER wanted to walk away from, things I NEVER dreamed I’d leave.  But here is what I know, and what I am most excited about, we are going to get to experience walking with Jesus like NEVER before, because we are doing something we have NEVER done before… we are stepping out of the boat.

(And P.S. our new church family is INCREDIBLE and we are SO excited to get out there and get started!)

“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.  Matthew 14:29