Real faith includes stepping out of the boat, and acting on what I know to be true. After all, it’s not really faith if it doesn’t include the matching trust to actually take action. But that action can be very difficult at times.

Peter stepped out

Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

Matthew 14:28-29 (For full context, see Matthew 14:22-33)

Imagine yourself in Peter’s sandals. You’ve followed this rabbi for a couple of years. You gave up your previous life so that you could be with Him. You believe — you know — that He is the Messiah your people have awaited for centuries. But now, you’re on a small boat in a storm that scares even a lifelong fisherman, and here comes the rabbi walking on the waves. To confirm that it is really Him, you ask Him to call you to His side. He does so.

Now, it’s time for you to follow through. You know the sea. You know that water does not hold a person’s weight while they walk on top of it. You’ve known people to drown in calm water, much less during a storm. Will you really step out of the boat, onto the surface of the rolling waves? Do you really trust your rabbi, your Messiah, that much?

But if you don’t step out, what good are all your promises of faithfulness to Him? Will you always have that niggling doubt that maybe, somehow, something about you — or about Him! — is not quite good enough? How can you not step out, and learn the truth for sure?

Peter stepped out, wobbled a bit, but learned that Jesus is everything He says He is.

Will we step out?

What storms are we going through? What small boat of security are we clinging to, and what waves do we need to face while trusting Jesus? Will we step out, see Him come through for us, and learn the truth?

Some potential occasions to step out include:

Coming to Him for salvation

It is not possible to step out toward a Savior that I have not yet accepted as my own. Simply saying that I believe Jesus is the Messiah, the divine Son of God come into the world to rescue me from sin and reconcile me to God is not enough. I must make the commitment, put all my eggs into that one basket, admit I need forgiveness, ask Him to save me, and depend on Him to have done so.

That is a major step out of my boat of self-reliance. But it is a critical step before everything that follows.

Dealing with a life crisis

Redeemed Christian child of God or not, I am guaranteed to face crises. In fact, some of those crises will be because I am a Christian. Others will be typical of problems encountered by everyone: illness, grief, job issues, relationship problems. When Jesus says to handle those problems in His own very non-intuitive way (see the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7), will I step out and obey Him? Or will I stay in the boat of my natural human reaction of self-preservation and pride?

Beginning a new ministry

Starting anything new is a risk. Starting something that shares Christ and His love has its own special kind of risk. What if it fails, or I fail at it? What if it is rejected, or if I am rejected, for interfering with the status quo? Will I step out toward the reward of advancing God’s kingdom? Or will I stay in my safe-but-unproductive back church pew/boat and do nothing else?

Doing what is right even against resistance

It seems that every news story these days is about someone actively defying God’s standards. Whether it is sexuality, or government vs individual responsibility, or even common courtesy, there are abundant opportunities to stand up and say “That is wrong. God says how He wants His world to be run, and this ain’t it.” Will I step out and take a counter-cultural stand? Or will I go quietly along with the cultural boat that is heading in the wrong direction?

There are risks. But there are also rewards worth that risk.

Peter took a risk. When he stepped out of the boat, he could have immediately plunged to the bottom of the sea. In that case, the other disciples would have learned a lesson: Don’t do that!

But Peter didn’t plunge. He and the others all learned that they could depend on Jesus. They passed that lesson on to us, 2000 years later. May we likewise step out, learn, and demonstrate God’s faithfulness to a world that desperately needs it.

Note: A couple of similar articles on this site are “Simply Obey” and “Trust vs Understanding“.