Matt. 14:25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Matt. 14:28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”
There is something I admire in Peter and desire for myself. Peter had a growing heart hunger to be with Jesus, no matter the risk, wherever Jesus wanted Him to be. He didn’t do it perfectly, not even close but if anything amazing was happening Peter was there. Even after denying Jesus he is close enough for Jesus to turn and look at him when the cock crowed. Peter’s daring to be with and like Jesus eventually changed the world and got Him killed too. Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart! If we are going to follow Jesus we must be daring!
“The majority of the time when God calls, He calls into empty space.” – Jerry Rankin from the book Spiritual Warfare and Missions
Omar Garcia in his blog Go Beyond says the following…
“In each of our lives there is a line that marks the farthest we’ve ever been or the most we’ve ever done for God and His purposes. Everything on our side of that line is familiar, convenient, manageable, and comfortable. No big surprises, no daunting challenges, no uncharted territory. Crossing that line requires a commitment to venture to places we’ve never been and the willingness to engage people we’ve never met. Only those with the courage to overcome their fears and who have the determination to persevere will dare to cross that line. All others will keep a safe distance away from it.
We must go beyond — stepping boldly across the line in order to advance the interests of God’s kingdom in our world. I have heard people remark about how they long to be a part of something exciting for the kingdom, only to watch them aggressively avoid the context in which these things happen. We must be willing to place ourselves in a context where we will see God work in and through us in new and exciting ways, in ways we never imagined. We must be willing to spend ourselves for God and His purposes — to work toward the day when the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea. Step across the line and Go Beyond. Adventure awaits!”
One of my heroes from history who best exemplifies this was…
Gladys Alward
At 26 she failed the school of the China Inland Mission but she was not dissuaded. In 1930 took train across Russia to China to help aging missionary Agnes Lawson found an inn. The story of all that happened to her on the way is hair raising. 1932 Mandarin appointed her ‘foot -inspector’, a job she used to evangelize villagers all over his province. Prison riot valor in 1933 cemented her reputation as holy person and miracle worker. Became known as ‘Ai-weh-deh’, Chinese for ‘Virtuous One’. 1936 became Chinese citizen. 1940 wounded by Japanese soldiers, only months before she shepherded 100 orphans across mountains to safety. Nearly dead she ‘recovered’ to evangelize until Communists evicted her in late 1940’s. The Small Woman won her fame in 1957, increased by inaccurate but popular movie version ‘Inn of the Sixth Happiness’ starring Ingrid Bergman. Founded orphanage in 1958 in Taiwan, where she died January 3, 1970.
Gladys returned from China to England in the late 1940’s an unknown missionary. Alan Burgess, who was producing a series on war heroes for the BBC radio, visited her in the hope a missionary could tell him about heroes she had heard about in China. Well, no, she said in her rusty English. She didn’t actually know any heroes.
“What about yourself?” he asked the little woman half-heartedly. “Did you have a scrape or two?”
“I doubt people who listen to BBC would think I’ve done anything interesting.”
“Didn’t you even come into contact with the Japanese invaders?” he pressed.
“Yes,” she answered cryptically. It wouldn’t be very forgiving if she told Alan Burgess the Japanese had shot her down in a field outside Tsechow. Bombed her too. In Yangcheng. Strafed her near Lingchuang too. Smashed her on the noggin once with a rifle butt too. Finally put a price on her head: dead or alive. “Some Japanese are very nice, you know,” she volunteered.
“Apparently your life in China was rather sheltered,” he grunted dryly.
Gladys had to offer the poor man something. “I did take some children to an orphanage near Sian.”
“You don’t say?” he grumbled, not hiding disappointment. “Kids? To an orphanage?”
“Yes, we had to cross some mountains.”
Burgess perked up. “Real mountains?”
“Yes, I believe you would call them real mountains. The journey was made more difficult because we couldn’t walk on the main trails. Oh, and then we had to get across the Yellow River too.”
“Isn’t that the notorious river that drowns so many it’s called ‘China’s Sorrow’?”
Burgess was more and more aghast as Gladys detailed her trek. His voice choked. “You ran out of food? You had no money? Just you and 100 kids – many of whom were toddlers – trekked for one month across mountains, across the Yellow River, ducking Japanese patrols and dive bombers? And at Sian you were diagnosed with typhus and pneumonia and malnutrition? Yes, Miss Aylward, I think people who listen to BBC would think you’ve done something interesting…”
Over and over in the scriptures we see Jesus being daring and audacious in His mission, overcoming cultural and religious biases and literally turning the world upside down. He was so daring that it eventually got Him killed and it only took 3 1/2 years. Many of His followers have been so valiant in their mission that they too were killed. The Moravians called surrender to missionary service, “The Great Dying.” Amy Carmichael called the decision to work with her “A Chance To Die.” So many stories could be told throughout history. How many thousands are on the field today as a result of the Ecuador 5? Jesus was daring in His mission and we, His followers, if we are to accurately imitate Him will also be daring. His Name and the mission are worth it.
Today was a beautiful day on many levels. First, because we were heading to an orphanage 2 hours outside of Bogota and we had to go through some amazing scenery to get there. We left the city and very quickly the landscape turned into desert. I was amazed as I had never been out this far west of Bogota and didn’t realize there was desert this close to this verdant mountain city. As we traveled farther west I kept telling everyone, “this looks like Arizona or southern New Mexico. There were cactus in bloom everywhere, deep red ravines (or arroyos where I come from), and strange monoliths of rock.
Then we began to climb and climb and climb. It wasn’t long before we had left the desert floor below and were winding through mountain peaks covered in clouds and mist. It was stunning. We wound our way down into the jungle and then up again into the mountains until we came to the sleepy little mountain Pueblo of La Mesa. We toured the orphanage and met all of the workers as we were waiting for the children to come home from school. This would be a beautiful place to come for a few days and they even have facilities to house us in the future. We had many talks of ideas and plans and are excited about future work with these folks.
Soon the children arrived and we had lunch and then spent some time helping them with their homework and then it was off to play soccer, frisbee, dodgeball, and all manner of games. It was a wonderful time of building friendships and sharing love. The old guys sat in the shade and dreamed up new visions and ministries together. As we were resting a little boy named Miguel came up to talk to us. He was a very precocious three year old who surprised us with how bright he was and as cute as a button. His mother abandoned him to live in a drugged stupor on the streets of “The Bronx” Bogota’s worst section. My heart broke for her and for him.
Everyone played and played and then we gathered up for devotions. We sang some songs and Luke shared his heart with the children and then Oscar Perez shared. It began to rain so while Pastor Timothy and I met with the director the team and children moved into the chapel and had a wonderful time with the Lord. At the end the children prayed for our team. It was very powerful. We said our long goodbyes and then headed into the village for a wonderful dinner in among the 200 year old colonial buildings of the square. On the long winding ride back through mountains, jungle, and desert we sang, shared, dreamed, and some of us snored. We arrived back and the hotel and our two beautiful Colombian daughters were waiting for us with the wonderful news that Heidy had been accepted into the prestigious music school for which she interviewed today. Praise God. Blessings all around.
