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Ride the Waves (3)
'Peter walked on the water to Jesus' Matthew 14:29
Imagine you're one of the disciples who stayed in the boat and watched Peter walk on the water to Jesus. Then you saw him sink. Would you be laughing at him, shouting 'loser'? Or would you be thinking, 'Flippin' 'eck, did you see that? He just walked on water!'
When Jesus helped Peter back in the boat, would you be taking the rip out of him for failing? Or would you be asking him, 'What did it feel like to walk on water?' OK, you could say Peter failed - after all he didn't succeed in what he set out to do because he bottled it half-way and sank! But for a short time, Peter walked on water. He may have crashed and burned publicly, but he experienced the euphoria of walking on water. He alone knew how it felt to be empowered by God to do what he could never have done by himself.
Once you've walked on water you are never the same. So surely the only way Peter could have really failed is if he'd never tried at all? Winston Churchill said, 'I've never failed at anything in my life. I was simply given another opportunity to get it right.'
That's the winning spirit! Just because you sink doesn't mean you're sunk. Failure doesn't come from sinking - it comes from stopping trying. No one gets it right first time every time. So when things go wrong, know you've just been given another chance to get it right - keep on going and you will succeed.
written by Bob Gass
'Peter walked on the water to Jesus' Matthew 14:29
Imagine you're one of the disciples who stayed in the boat and watched Peter walk on the water to Jesus. Then you saw him sink. Would you be laughing at him, shouting 'loser'? Or would you be thinking, 'Flippin' 'eck, did you see that? He just walked on water!'
When Jesus helped Peter back in the boat, would you be taking the rip out of him for failing? Or would you be asking him, 'What did it feel like to walk on water?' OK, you could say Peter failed - after all he didn't succeed in what he set out to do because he bottled it half-way and sank! But for a short time, Peter walked on water. He may have crashed and burned publicly, but he experienced the euphoria of walking on water. He alone knew how it felt to be empowered by God to do what he could never have done by himself.
Once you've walked on water you are never the same. So surely the only way Peter could have really failed is if he'd never tried at all? Winston Churchill said, 'I've never failed at anything in my life. I was simply given another opportunity to get it right.'
That's the winning spirit! Just because you sink doesn't mean you're sunk. Failure doesn't come from sinking - it comes from stopping trying. No one gets it right first time every time. So when things go wrong, know you've just been given another chance to get it right - keep on going and you will succeed.
written by Bob Gass
