Learning to Walk on Water

If it is one thing I have learned in these past few months of joy, struggle, anguish, and pure happiness, facing adversity, and learning to flex my faith, it is learning how to study the Bible, its teachings, and applying them to my life; one particular lesson sticks out in my head: learning to walk on water. No, I'm not saying I've mastered the elements, but rather I am learning to walk on the waters of life.

For those unfamiliar to the elements of this teaching, Peter and his colleagues are out to sea when Christ, finished with his evening prayer, walks on the water out to meet his disciples. Frightened by the sight of a man walking on the water, the disciples grew afraid, calling the figure a ghost. Peter (admittedly my favorite of the disciples, for various reasons) calls out to Him saying "if you are the Christ, call me out to you." Jesus does so, and for a short time Peter walks on the water to Him. However, when taking a moment to look around him, feeling the winds pick up, he grows afraid. As Christ pulls him out of his sinking situation, he utters the words: "oh ye of little faith." Had Peter simply kept his sights upon Christ--had he stayed focused, ignoring the worldly winds around him--he would have continued to walk on water.

Thinking about my life now, I am in the midst of "walking on water". Allow me to explain. My life now, I have a beautiful girlfriend whom I plan to marry soon, a job with the federal government (which in itself was a God send, but that's another blog), and I'm back to school a year or so early, pursuing my masters degree. All of this started through meeting April; I met her on myspace of all places (the odds of which were unbelievable), dated her long distance and was crazy enough for her that I moved out here to be close to her, allowing these other aspects of life to come to fruition. I truly believe April was the first of many answered prayers regarding a variety of aspects of my life. "Ask and ye shall receive," right?

Yet, there are times of weakness (likely in times of fatigue) where I will think about the sheer odds of all of this coming to pass. Just as Peter did out on the sea that faithful evening, it becomes easy to tramp in the improbability of it all and doubt a bit. Yet, I have learned, that if I keep my focus upon God and His plan for me, the love I have for April, all my prayers will be answered in His time. I must not "lean upon my own understanding" as it is written, but rather sit back, and enjoy the ride. (Which is definitely easier said than done.)

So long as I keep my attention on Him who brought me here as part of answered prayers, I too am learning to walk on water.