“I give myself away!” William McDowell, a young cat who writes from the heart, changing the heart and mind. I give myself away, says we belong to you O Lord. In Matthew 14, Peter makes a elucidatory statement of being sold out to the Way. Peter’s steps out of the boat, knowing that if he is to survive, the Lord must not only save him but claim Peter as his own. That is how I feel in those sinking moments, when life is overwhelming me, and things are not quite as comfortable as they could be. What I feel in those moments is that the Lord will come from out of no where, move into my dark moment and reach down and grab me. Our darkest moments are filled with gloom, they are filled with despair and there is no turning back once they come upon us. We must go through them and to go through them alone would only compound them. They leave us with this lonely, dark feeling like the storm is present and overwhelming us. No sense of staying in the boat and being tossed and driven, the solution seems to be to step out on faith and try something new like walking on the water.
Peter is out of the boat, he is moving into the realm of the impossible, walking on water. He is confident that it’s the Lords voice he hears. “If it is you Lord, tell me to come.” Jesus tells Peter simply, “come.” If I can’t walk on water why would he tell me come? Coming gives us a testimony; it gives us a fresh word because coming is not easy. One of the hardest things of living this life is coming when the Lord bids come. To step out of boat and on to water; certainly not sure footing, one the heels of the storm, a boat full of doubters and in the middle of darkness, we make the most important step of our lives to trust God. God I will step out of the boat. Lord I will trust you. Lord if I fall, sink or stumble, you will catch me. Lord you will stretch out your hand and save me. Lord I trust you. Yes Lord! It is new, it is strange and there is a possibility of me sinking but I am going to fully trust you. The worst thing that can happen is I have to get back in the boat to be tossed and driven again. I give myself away to you, to be assaulted by the waves and overwhelmed but I trust you to bring it all under control.