Water-walking (2)

When he saw the wind...he was afraid.
Matthew 14:30

The truth about water-walking is: the fear never goes away! If you want to grow, you must go into new territory, and each time you do you'll experience fear. Give up trying to make fear go away! Fear and growth go together; it's a package deal. The decision to grow means choosing between risk and comfort. Each time you get out of the boat you become alittle more able to get out the next time. It's not that the fear goes away, you just get used to living with it. You realise that it doesn't have the power to destroy you. On the other hand, every time you choose to stay in the boat rather than heed the call of Christ to "Come," the voice inside you gets a little quieter, until finally you don't hear it at all.

Did Peter fail? No. Besides Jesus, he's the only man who ever walked on water. Failure isn't an event, it's just an opinion. It's not what happens to us, but how we think about it. Only Peter knew the joy of being empowered by God to do what couldn't humanly be done. Walking on water changes you forever. And only Peter knew the grace of being liftedby Jesus in a moment of desperate need. He understood in a way the others couldn't that when you take baby steps of faith, the Lord will never let you drown. He had an experience with Christ the others didn't have. So,failure isn't sinking in the waves, it's never getting out of the boat!