Come Ahead!

Over the years in my Christian walk, I’ve come to have a pretty good idea of when the Lord is leading me to do something new.  It usually starts with a word or a thought that sort of pops into my head.  But the thing that differentiates it from all the other things bouncing around in my mind is that it is always accompanied by a deep sense of peace, confidence and encouragement!

I came to this line of thought last night as something we were watching on TV triggered a memory of a gal that I had hung around with for a short period of time before Piper and I started dating.  I really don’t remember much about it except for some of our conversations.  As I was relating some of this to Piper, who also was friends with her, it dawned on me that I did not always feel very comfortable or confident with her as she had kind of a negative way of joking about some of the things I said or did.

Then I looked over into my wife’s deep brown eyes and almost came to tears declaring: “But with you things were different!  Whenever I am around you, I feel that I can do anything!”  Piper has always had uplifting, encouraging and comforting words for me, similar to how the Lord speaks to me and just like Jesus had for Peter during their walking on the water incident recorded in Matthew 14:22-33.

In verses 28 and 29 we witness a bold act by Peter as he called out to Jesus, who was walking on the water toward the disciples in the boat, and said, "Master, if it's really you, call me to come to you on the water."  To which Jesus immediately replied, “Come ahead…"  (The Message)  The King James Version says that Peter asked Jesus to “bid me to come unto thee on the water.”  In the original Greek, when you “bid” someone to do something, you are asking them to “urge” you on or to incite them to action by a word.  A modern definition of the term “urge” is “to try earnestly or persistently to persuade someone to do something.”

In my thinking, this puts a different slant on this story.  It would seem that Peter was beginning to know Jesus pretty well by this time and realized that he could take a big step of faith, away from the comfort and safety of the boat and walk on the water like Jesus… IF… Jesus earnestly and persistently encouraged him along the way!  And on the other hand, Jesus understood the heart of Peter as well as his impulsive tendencies which many times caused him to act first and think later!

Jesus’ reply to Peter’s request was a simple “Come ahead” with that word “Come” meaning “To come or go, to accompany, to enter or to grow.  Metaphorically it implies one’s coming into being, to find place or influence or to be established.” (Strong’s and Thayer’s)  So it looks like Jesus wasn’t just saying “Oh yea, come on down!”  But instead was encouraging Peter to take a step of faith and accompany Him as He walked on the water.  To me, it looks like Jesus was wanting Peter to step way out of his comfort zone in order to become more established in the heavenly kingdom principles by finding his place of influence in Jesus and His Word!

When I look back on my life, I can readily see how the Lord continually prodded Piper and I to take greater and greater steps of faith out of our comfort zones and into His perfect will for us.  Many of these steps have directly prepared us for what we find ourselves facing today. 

What about you?  Have you heard the voice of the Lord calling you to step out of the comfort and safety of the boat of your life, in order to grow and become more established in Him?  The first step can be a little scary, but you know, it DOES get easier each time you hear and take steps to obey His call.

Have an adventurous rest of the week, and as you do, keep asking yourselves… “Am I expecting to step out of my boat when the Lord bids me to do so today?”