Get In or Out of the Boat?

To walk on water you have to get out of the boat. Peter gets out and walks on water. Matt 14:29 But to get away from the earthly pressures one has to get into the boat to get away from it all. Like the disciples did after they fed the multitudes. Mark 7:14 So which is it?

Peter had to have faith to step out of the boat to meet his Lord. He needed only to fix his eyes on the Jesus blotting out all else, which he did and surprised himself. It was only when he looked down and saw the waves that he doubted what he was doing and began to sink. Same like us. Sometimes we need to take risks. If we want to do something, be true to our vision or step out of our comfort zones we have to take risks, get out of the boat. That, often, is how God gets things done, how he blesses things.

But not always. At other times peer pressure, cultural pressure, or financial pressure squeeze in all around. We need to get in the boat and be around our own people, the assurance of our trusted sources. So it’s important know who your people are. When I was in the process of moving to the island and was in Ladysmith looking for a place, I didn’t know who my people were. All I knew was the ones in the Okanagan were no longer it, hence the move. So when I happened upon a particular article in the diocesan newspaper and my heart leapt, I knew these were my people. And in God’s magnificent orchestrating ways, he lead me to the exact meeting where I ran into the author of that article. Now with all the church ministries out there, how is it that I stumbled on that one? Look up and say thanks.

So sometimes we need to get in the boat to get away from the demands of the times, the influences, the pressures. Even if it’s with just with one loaf like the disciples did. And sometimes we need to get out of the boat and take a risk like Peter did. Either way we need discernment, an involved act of determining the best course of action, then trusting the results to God.

And I guess the wisdom is in knowing the difference.