If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat (2003) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters/People edit see section history

• Peter: Add a description of this character.
• Joseph
• David
• Saul
• Elijah
• Bob
• Paul
• Matthew
• Doug
• Toby
• Samuel
• Moses
• Parker
• Abraham
• Jacob
• Pharaoh
• Clarence
• Dale Bruner

Quotes edit see section history

• “Make all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.”

• “Sin is always a substitute for legitimate suffering. It is an attempt to obtain the pleasure that does not rightfully belong to us or evade the pain that does.”

• “You can never out-give God.”

• “A calling is something you discover; not something you choose.”

• “A career may end with retirement and lots of "toys." A calling isn't over until the day you die. The rewards of a career may be quite visible, but they are temporary. The significance of a calling lasts for eternity.”

• “Getting out of the boat was Peter's great gift to Jesus; the experience of walking on water was Jesus' great gift to Peter.”

• “One of the most exciting spiritual adventures in life is helping someone find God.”

• “Trust Jesus. No one ever regretted trusting Him more—ever.”

• “Forgiveness is not an emotion. It is an act of will, and the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart.”

• “There is a big difference between faith and foolishness.”

• “I never failed anything in my life. I was given a second opportunity to get it right.”

• “Failure is an indespensable, irreplaceable part of learning and growth.”

• “Courage alone is not enough; it must be accompanied by wisdom and discernment.”

• “Worship enlarges the capacity to experience and understand God.”

• “We worship God not so much because He needs it, but because we do.”

• “We worship God not so much because He needs it, but because we do.”

• “Waiting on the Lord is a confident, disciplined, expectant, active, and sometimes painful clinging to God.”

• “Waiting is not just something we have to do while we get what we want. It is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be.”

• “What God does in us while we wait is as important as what it is we are waiting for.”

• “Hope is the single greatest difference between those who try and those who give up.”

• “Failure can be a tremendous motivator.”

• “There are 366 "fear not" verses in the Bible—one for every day of the year, including one for leap year!”

• “One of the most exciting spiritual adventures in life is helping someone find God.”

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• Failure does not shape you; the way you respond to failure shapes you.

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• Failure is not an event, but rather a judgment about an event. Failure is not something that happens to us or a label we attach to things. It is a way we think about outcomes.

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• Your boat is whatever represents safety and security to you apart from God himself. Your boat is whatever you are tempted to put your trust in, especially when life gets a little stormy. Your boat is whatever keeps you so comfortable that you don’t want to give it up even if it’s keeping you from joining Jesus on the waves. Your boat is whatever pulls you away from the high adventure of extreme discipleship.

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• This is not just a story about risk-taking; it is primarily a story about obedience. That means I will have to discern between an authentic call from God and what might simply be a foolish impulse on my part. Courage alone is not enough; it must be accompanied by wisdom and discernment.

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• They would have to learn—as do we—that obedience is no guarantee of being spared adversity.

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• The worst failure is not to sink in the waves. The worst failure is to never get out of the boat.

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• Here is a deep truth about water-walking: The fear will never go away. Why? Because each time I want to grow, it will involve going into new territory, taking on new challenges. And each time I do that, I will experience fear again. As Susan Jeffers writes, “The fear will never go away, as long as I continue to grow.”

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• The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus you must renounce comfort as the ultimate value of your life.

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• Frederich Buechner wrote that calling is “the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.”

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• We have to learn to wait on the Lord to receive power to walk on the water. We have to wait for the Lord to make the storm disappear. In some ways, “waiting on the Lord” is the hardest part of trusting. It is not the same as “waiting around.” It is putting yourself with utter vulnerability in his hands.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Kenya
• Egypt
• Indiana
• Israel
• Ethiopia
• Florence

First Sentence edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. John Ortberg (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 248.4

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Religion & Spirituality › Christianity › Reference › Topical
• Books › Religion & Spirituality › Christianity › Christian Living
• Books › Religion & Spirituality › Bible & Other Sacred Texts