Walking on Water

"Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water".   He said, "Come."  So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus."                                   ~ Matthew 14:28-29

This is astounding and yet so many times I read over it like was yesterday's to do list.  What would it be like to walk on water?  I can't even comprehend it because it defies the laws of this natural world.   I read about it in the Bible and I believe the Bible.   So it seems like I believe in contradictions.

Peter must have been an interesting man at best.  He is the one that we admire and are disappointed in all at the same time.  He reminds us of someone.  Who could that be?  Oh yeah ~ ourselves.  One minute we can be defending the Savior to the death.  The next minute we are cowering in fear to the pain.  I would imagine that Peter's personality was one of great highs and deep lows.  And yet,  Peter walked on water.   Of course, one has to keep reading to see that as soon as Peter took his eyes off Jesus, he sank and almost drowned.   Double meaning?

When we consider the impossibilities of our lives we have a couple of choices.  As I look back on mine I realize that sometimes I have drowned in the wake and given in to the death of my own capabilities.  I have not kept my eyes on Jesus and dreamt of the impossible. I know that there is a whole world out there that I don't see and have a hard time comprehending.  Walking by faith and not by sight can be a scary business because we are so oriented to the senses.  But, what if we would keep our eyes on Jesus and the eternal and see through those lenses.  I submit that the possibilities, which we have assumed were impossibilities, are endless.  I am not suggesting that you go out and try to walk on water.  But the thought that comes to my mind is that there are things happening in this world that we don't see but if we could we would be amazed.

Where is the Holy Spirit working?  If you had the eyes and heart to see it what would be your response and how would you act?  Paul Miller, in his book A Loving Life (I have not read this book but got this quote from a review of the book) said this, "But if an unseen hand is shaping the day, then the day becomes an adventure."  Our ordinary lives are an adventure!  I'm not talking about being extra biblical.  Our lives must always line up with scripture.  But I am suggesting that there is more to life than meets the eyes.

I wonder if in our gospel saturated culture we haven't become accustomed to His grace.  Yeah, yeah it's wonderful, astounding and marvelous.  Do you remember when you were first saved and the awesomeness of it all.   What do you suppose it looks like to be a mature Christian with a child-like faith?  Don't you just want that?  I want to be smart with the knowledge of the Holy One and walk in the realm of the Holy Spirit.  It is a tall order, I know.  But I am willing to spend the rest of my life working towards the goal.

The wonderful thing in all of this is that it doesn't matter who you are in this world.  This Spirit calls us to follow His leading whether you are great in the eyes of society/culture or seemingly unnoticed.  We have work to do ~ spiritual work that honors our God.  Spiritual work doesn't just mean work for the church but whatever your hand finds to do.  We can be outstanding even when no one is watching because He is watching and being pleased by our efforts.  Live life fully right where you are.  You might not be the one who changes the world but you might be that someone who changes one person's world.  And in the process our world changes and becomes bigger than who we are.

I was reading in Carolyn McCulley and Nora Shank's new book The Measure of Success last night about the wife of Martin Luther, Kathryn Von Bora.  I don't think she went out to change the world but in what God gave her to do it did change the world.  Her life centered around ordinary tasks just so that the Luthers could survive.  I find this fascinating understanding that there are unseen forces working in and amongst the natural everyday life.  And then today we were listening to Garth Brooks (there is nothing like a little Garth to clean house too) and one of the songs caught my ear in light of what I have been thinking.  Here are some of the lyrics:

"Too many times we stand aside
Let the waters slip away
'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow
Has now become today
So don't you sit upon the shoreline
And say you're satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids
And dare to dance the tide."

Seize the moment.  Listen for Holy Spirit possibilities.  Keep your eyes on Jesus.  Then finish the race with worn out shoes and broken down bodies.

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.  For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance of death to death, to the other a fragrance of life to life."      ~ 2 Corinthians 2:14-16