The other day our college guys were going through the study Chase the Lion by Mark Batterson. The question asked was: what is the difference between inspired boldness and stupidity?
As we all pondered that question we read about Moses confronting Pharaoh and David choosing to fight Goliath. So we seemed to come up with an answer to the question. Boldness has purpose and stupidity is self serving. Moses risked his life and the people of Israel were freed from Egyptian enslavement. David did what seemed impossible and killed the giant, thus saving Israel from the Philistines.
The 3rd scripture we read was Matthew 14:22-33 about Jesus and Peter walking on water. Was this inspired boldness on Peter's part or stupidity? By our standard it was sheer stupidity. What was the point? What people did Peter rescue by making a fool of himself in the middle of the sea? But as I kept thinking about it and reading it I realized that maybe the point of it all is that Peter wanted to get closer to Jesus.
Maybe when we do things that we perceive as being bold we expect big things to happen. We think that some big change will be brought about, maybe even that we will become a hero for taking that big step of faith. But perhaps when God asks us to be bold, to take a big leap of faith, all He wants is for us to be closer to Him. And we must know that it is scary as it was for Peter, but Jesus wants to give us all the opportunity to take the risk to draw closer to Him. And if we fall, that just gives Him an opportunity to rescue us.
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