How to Become a Water Walker

When the Lord touched me on March 23, 1968, He lit a fire in my heart. Even though I had already been born again for ten years, this was when I really got turned on to God. I was in college at the time, and the Lord told me, “Nope, that’s not it.” God had something bigger for me than being a math major, so He started challenging me to make some decisions.

One of those decisions was to quit school. This meant losing $350 a month in government support from my deceased father’s social security. If I stayed in school, I kept the money. If I dropped out, I lost it. This caused fear, worry, and concern because $350 a month for a young single man in 1968 was a decent amount of change. Many people counseled me saying, “That can’t be God. You’re taking a huge risk!” So why did I do it? I wanted to obey the Lord.

This also took place at the height of the Vietnam War. I had a school deferment as long as I stayed in college, but if I quit, I could expect an all-expense paid trip to Vietnam. This was before they had the lottery system for the draft, so it wasn’t based on chance. If you quit school and were a healthy eighteen or nineteen-year-old male, you went to Vietnam. There were no options. I was running the risk of getting hurt, being maimed for life, or even dying. Yet, I went ahead and jumped out of the boat!

I took a step out on the water and began walking in the realm of the miraculous. If God didn’t come through, I was sunk!

Looking back on it now, those were some of the greatest decisions I’ve ever made in my entire life. Since then, I’ve made thousands upon thousands of decisions where it would have been easier to stay in the relative comfort of where I was. But I wanted to believe God. I longed to follow Him and get out there where Jesus was.Since you’re reading this article, you probably desire to be out there on the water too. You want to be doing something miraculous and making your life count for the kingdom. You long for God’s power, but you’re afraid to leave the boat.

Faith Killers

Peter never would have walked on the water if he hadn’t first stepped out of the boat. You have to get out of the boat before you can walk on water.

You can’t walk on water in the boat. You have to get out of your comfort zone.

The fear of being different, of running a risk, and the desire to be safe are all real faith killers.

“Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel” (Psalm 78:41).

You limit God by not having a vision, fearing the unknown, thinking small, fearing change, being unwilling to take a risk, fearing failure, not taking a step of faith, being lazy, and staying in the boat. This limits what God can do in your life. You need to take the limits off God! My teaching entitled Don’t Limit God will show you how you can do this.

Out on the Limb

Some people just can’t transition from taking the so-called security the world has to offer to getting out of the boat. However, the fruit grows out on the limb! Most of us want to hold onto the trunk and still have all the fruit that comes from being out on the limb, but it doesn’t work that way. You need to get out there where you’re bobbing up and down in the breeze. You need to feel that insecurity of wobbling around and wondering, Is this thing going to hold me or not? That’s where the fruit comes.

When you get out of the boat and start believing God for something big, you will start seeing miracles.

For me, it’s been nearly four decades of stepping out of the boat, and I get excited every time I do something big! I’ve taken some big steps in my life. I moved from a small 14,000 square foot building to a 110,000 square foot building. We not only took the huge step of buying that building, but we did over $3 million in renovations debt free. While we were doing all of these things, we also doubled our television coverage and more than doubled our staff. This was a huge step out of my boat, and it’s not over yet!

I’ve taken new steps of faith that make those previous steps look small. If the Lord doesn’t come through, we’re sunk. But I have faith that the best is yet to come. I’ll never go back to playing it safe. I’m going for it!

You might say, “Andrew, you shouldn’t say that. What happens if it doesn’t come to pass?” Well, what happens if it does come to pass? I’ve seen God come through so many times. I know He’s not limited. The only limitation He has is me. So I’m getting out of the boat!

Afraid of Failure

So what if, like Peter, I don’t do it perfectly? What happens if I only walk part of the way? What would happen if only part of my vision comes to pass?

What happens if I shoot at the stars but only hit the moon? Some people would look at that as failure. I look at that as still being better than staying earthbound.

We’re just so afraid of failure. We’re so scared of what other people say about us. Yet, I think the people who are the biggest failures are those who do nothing. If you shoot at nothing and hit it every time, that’s a failure!

Peter had to get out of the boat. He had to get beyond his immediate circumstances and start believing God for something bigger. If you want to be a water walker, you have to be willing to get out of the boat. Some people refuse to lose sight of the shore. They won’t get in over their ankles. They’re afraid of what might be out there.

If you knew the water was only six inches deep, you wouldn’t mind getting out of the boat. Why? You’d know what’s underneath the surface. However, one of the aspects of truly getting out of the boat is not knowing what’s out there. You don’t know how deep the water is, so you’re dealing with the fear of the unknown. You are probably getting in over your head! But in order to get out of the boat and walk on water, you must be willing to trust the results—the future, the unknown—to God.

Try Something New

You have to be willing to take a risk.

If you’re the type of person who wants your whole life planned out and simply refuses to take a risk, then you’ll never walk on water.

If you insist on knowing exactly where you’ll be, what you’ll be doing, and who you will be doing it with twenty years from now, you’ll never see God’s best. It takes faith to see the real supernatural power of God.

A good friend of mine says, “God will usually terrify you before He edifies you!” God’s vision for your life will be bigger than what you can do, and it will overwhelm you. My friend also says, “If your dreams and visions don’t keep you up at night, you’re thinking too small!” If it’s God, He’ll call you to do something that’s beyond your ability. You’ll have to get in over your head and run the risk of failure.

That just comes with the territory!

Part of being a water walker is being willing to get out of the safety of the boat. You have to depart from what’s familiar and what everybody else is doing. You must be willing to try something new. Step out and take a chance!

Paralyzed

One time, I ministered to a man who was paralyzed. He had been paralyzed for twenty years. I prayed for him and he started moving his legs, yet he wouldn’t get out of his wheelchair. He always had an excuse—first this, then that. But in my heart, I knew he was healed.

After several weeks of this, he got back to where he was paralyzed again. Finally, he told me, “I’m afraid of getting out of this wheelchair. I’ve been in it for twenty years. I used to be a sheriff and became paralyzed when I took a bullet to the spine in the line of duty. If I got up out of this wheelchair and walked, I would lose my disability checks. Plus, people think I’m a hero. They pity me and sympathize with me. I’d lose that too if I could walk. People would wonder if I was ever really paralyzed. I’m secure. I couldn’t go out and get another job now. I don’t know how to do anything but be a sheriff, and I’m too old to go back to doing that.”

This man was only about fifty years old, but he was afraid to get out of his wheelchair because he became comfortable with the money, sympathy, and attention he received. This guy was paralyzed. He was limited. He was missing out on so much of life but was willing to let it pass him by so he could have money, keep his friends, and have people pity him and sympathize with him. He totally missed the fact that    he could have made all kinds of new friends, glorified God, and done things that he hadn’t done before. The Lord would have provided for him. Who knows what his future could have been if he had been willing to get out of that wheelchair.

What Is Your Boat?

This man’s wheelchair was his boat. What is your boat? Is your hometown your boat? Are you secure in your hometown and afraid to leave? I’m not saying that God tells everyone to leave their hometown, but He may be calling you to do something where you’d lose the security of your hometown and some other familiar places. If you were to serve God full force, you might lose some friends. You might say, “But what would I do without them?” Wrong question! What are you not doing because of them? Are you willing to let God’s will pass you by just because you’re afraid to run the risk and step out of the boat?

I lost some lifelong friends when I made a commitment to serve God. It grieved me at the time, but since then God has given me millions of other friends—better friends, closer friends. The promise of the “hundred-fold” return is for those who step out of the boat (Mark 10:28-30). Are you going to be one of those who step out of the boat?

You can see what you’re leaving, but not what you’re missing. In other words, hindsight gives you the ability to look back and see what it cost you to serve God, but you don’t have the ability to look forward and see what you’ll be missing if you don’t serve Him. God is a good God.

God will never require more of you than what He gives to you.

You’ll always be more blessed in following the Lord than you ever would in not following Him. But you must be willing to get out of the boat!