Most of us have experienced the moments where we felt very called to something, but as time went on and the situation got difficult, we began to wonder if we were ever called to do this thing in the first place. This may have been expressed in your life through being initially excited about a small group only to find 6 months later that you feel overbooked, overly busy, and drained. Maybe you started volunteering somewhere and the weariness of the work has caused you to no longer feel “called” to it.
The story of Jesus walking on water speaks clearly to us as we discern how to proceed into the calling of God on our lives when things get hard and we lose all sense of sureness we used to have. After a long day of ministering to thousands alongside Jesus, the disciples find themselves in the middle of the storm. As a figure is walking towards them, they decide that it is either a ghost or Jesus. Peter shouts, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” Jesus simply replies, “Come,” (v. 28-29). And this is enough for Peter, as he displays great faith by stepping out on the water. As soon as Peter leaves the boat, he is in physically the most vulnerable place he could be (as he is no longer in the boat), but, spiritually, he’s in the safest place he could possibly be (with Jesus).
But then, something happens. Peter starts to sink. All the while, the storm is raging on. When we step out in faith and expect Jesus to immediately calm the storm, we can so often be surprised by the fact that our circumstances don’t seem any easier when we respond to Jesus in faith. As Peter was sinking, he could have turned around and begun to swim back to the boat. Instead, he cries out, “Lord, save me,” (v.30). He re-declares his dependence on the Lord. This begs the question for us: where do we turn? Do we mindlessly scroll through social media? Do we turn to pornography, alcohol, or other vices in our times of distress? Do we question whether we heard God wrong when we first stepped out? Stepping out of the boat to walk to where Jesus is provides us the perfect opportunity to continually declare our dependence on Jesus.