i just started reading this book... "If You Want To Walk On Water You've Got To Get Out Of The Boat" by John Ortberg. i'll share with you one part of the 1st chapter...





25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. 27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." 28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." 29"Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" 31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" 32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.


Water Walkers See Failure As An Opportunity To Grow

As soon as Peter asks for help Jesus is there. He helps Peter physically by pulling him from the water. But he also helps Peter grow by pinpointing the problem: "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"

I don't think Jesus is being harsh or critical here. In fact, one detail I love about this story is that Jesus makes this comment to Peter when they are alone on the water. The text says it is only after this comment that they got into the boat. It may be that Jesus - like any good mentor - did not want to embarrass Peter in front of the other disciples. So in the privacy and safety of his strong right hand, he gently helps Peter locate the source of his problem.

The problem was quite clear: Whether Peter sank on water-walked depended on whether he focused on the storm or on Jesus. But now he understood his dependance on faith much more deeply than he would have if he had never left the boat. It was his willingness to risk failure that helped him to grow.

Even more than we hate to fail, we hate for other people to see us fail. If I had been Peter, I would have been tempted to try to cover up what happened when I got back into the boat with the other disciples: Yes - water-walking was great for a while. But then I got hot and thought how good it would feel to go down for a quick swim...

Because Peter puts himself in a position to fail, he also puts himself in a position to grow. Failure is an indispensable, irreplaceable part of learning and growth. Here is the principle involved: FAILURE DOES NOT SHAPE YOU; THE WAY YOU RESPOND TO FAILURE SHAPES YOU.

Sir Edmund Hillary made several unsuccessful attempts at scaling Mount Everest before he finally succeeded. After one attempt he stood at the base of the giant mountain and shook his fist at it. "I'll defeat you yet," he said in defiance. "Because you're as big as you're going to get - but I'm still growing."


Every time Hillary climbed, he failed. And every time he failed, he learned. And every time he learned, he grew and tried again. And one day he didn't fail.

in our lives we will meet all kinds of situations, and failures... but.. how are you going to respond to that failurE?!