One of my mentors, the late Virgil Johnson, was a powerful apostle of signs, wonders, and miracles.

I made his acquaintance in my late twenties when I was pastoring my second church in a small rural town in Central Louisiana.

Virgil moved in great power and had a tremendous heart to share his knowledge of the kingdom and activate people in God’s anointings to fulfill their destinies.

Because of his bombastic personality and unmitigated boldness in the kingdom, he had very few peers in ministry who could match his faith.

For this reason, he garnered much criticism from leaders and fellow Christians who didn’t share his audacity.

Rather than take Virgil’s bold faith exploits as an example, they would tear him down and oppose his work, because it intimidated them to see someone so “out there” that they couldn’t keep up with him.

I so appreciated Virgil because he was willing, as a very sought out speaker, to come to my little out-of-the-way congregation to minister so patiently.

Over the years, he struck up a friendship with me and continually encouraged me to exploits of faith.

On one of his visits, he made a statement in the pulpit “Peter got out of the boat against the advice of eleven of the most spiritual people of his day.”.

The Bible says there is wisdom in many counselors (see Proverbs 11:14; 15:22), but consider this –– on reading those passages, one day, the Father said this to me, “Your counselors are only as good as the counsel they give you.”

The Father went on to say, “Your counselors cannot give you what they do not have, but that doesn’t mean they don’t think they know better than you.”

In Matthew 14:22-33 the disciples see Jesus walking on water, and Peter vaults over the rail into the turbulent waters to go to Jesus.

I have a question: why didn’t the eleven disciples in the boat follow Peter over the side? We don’t see twelve men walking on water to Jesus because eleven of those men DIDN’T THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA.

Notice that Peter didn’t stop to confer with them before he threw himself overboard. He didn’t say, “Hey fellows, here’s what I’m thinking of doing; what’s your opinion?

”And if Peter had, then doubtless, the consensus would have been, “Peter, that’s an interesting idea, but you are a little impetuous at times; maybe you better stay in the boat with us….”

Can you imagine what the disciples in the boat were thinking when Peter went over the side?

Doubting Thomas: “I don’t think he’s going to make it…”

Andrew (Peter’s brother): “How will I explain this to our mother?”

Judas: “Well, that’s a fine thing! How much is THIS little ESCAPADE going to cost? The treasury is tapped enough as it is!”

Aren’t you glad Peter didn’t stop to get a consensus?

Aren’t you glad he didn’t let the other disciples talk him out of his water-walking faith?

Ask yourself, whose company do you want to keep?

Do you want to hang out with the disciples in the boat, rowing for their lives, bailing water as fast as they can, or do you want to walk on water with Jesus?

Let me say this to you; you can’t have it both ways. You can’t man the bilge pumps of your sinking ship on the one hand while simultaneously walking on water with Jesus.

If you want something different, you must do something different, and that will involve dealing with people around you who don’t think your faith proposition is a very good idea.

I wonder if Peter stopped to think what the other disciples might have thought about his water-walking venture?

If he had no doubt, he would have held back. What are you holding back? Who are you listening to?

Are they provoking your faith or dampening your confidence?

Thank God for Peter and the other disciples that after the resurrection of Jesus, they demonstrated a greater measure of boldness.

Still, even then, there are indications that the disciples and apostles didn’t always share the same vision of faith.

What about you? Are you willing to sacrifice the good opinion of others to have a water-walking testimony?

Sometimes even those closest to you who sincerely care about you will nonetheless not have the mind of God where you are concerned.

The late John Wimber, leader of the Vineyard Movement, saw unprecedented miracles in his lifetime. Yet, in the beginning, he reported that they saw not ONE healing for two years after launching a healing emphasis in his ministry.

People praying for healing for others contracted what the sick had and died! (Yikes!). Can you imagine holding healing meetings for two years and no one gets healed?

Wimber took this to The LORD in prayer, and The LORD told him, “If you don’t like it, GET OUT!” John answered, “All the WAY out?” What do you mean?

The LORD instructed Wimber, “Never listen to your critics.”

That flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Wimber went on to relate that when they quit listening to their critics, their close friends kept coming to tell them what they were saying.

Because Wimber didn’t take their counsel either, some close friends became bitter enemies — greater cost and very painful, I’m sure.

Wimber stayed faithful to what God told him to do and went on to see one of the greatest signs and wonders ministries in modern times.

What about you? Who are you listening to, and who are you not listening to? It’s one thing to ignore your enemies and quite another to set aside the concern and loving cautions of those close to you.

Where is your faith? What and/or who is influencing you so that you will wind up a careful failure in the kingdom?

Yes, something is to be said for humbly receiving instruction, but if Job had done that, his outcome would have been a disaster. His own wife didn’t understand him or see things his way:

“So went Satan forth from the presence of The LORD and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. 8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; he sat down among the ashes. 9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die.” Job 2:7-9 KJV]

What can we learn here? Not everyone in your life will be on the same page, especially in times of difficulty.

In Job’s story, no one showed up to counsel him, or his wife opened her mouth to provoke him until Job was struggling.

As long as Job was blessed, their attitude was, “We are right there with you, Job!”

But when the downturn came, all the criticisms surfaced that didn’t reflect the mind of God or what God had planned came up.

What is the lesson?

Trials of life you go through will chum the waters, so the sharks of unbelief will start circling. If you respond to them, they will take you out!

Don’t let the concerns or unbelief of others chum the waters you’ve been invited to walk on!

Remember — God is a jealous God. My father often said, “What you allow to come between you and God, God will remove…”

That is a sobering prospect. Listen, God has called you to be a water walker.

Never forget that Jesus chose the seemingly most impetuous disciple to be the rock on which He would build His Church.

Refuse to be a careful failure. Listen to the voice of God and obey, no matter what others think. T

his is the key to getting out of the stuck place you are in regarding your destiny. Make your move today!

 

~ Prophet Russell Walden

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Prophet Russel Walden and wife Kitty were founders of Father’s Heart Ministry of Branson, Missouri. Prophet Russ travels internationally and in the USA ministering in the prophetic, bringing a new dimension to the prophetic through activation and impartation of God’s voice in your life. Russ comes from a long history in business world and full time pastoral ministry.

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