Dharius Daniels - I'm A Water Walker

Matthew 14, let’s start at verse 25. Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. «It’s a ghost!» they said, and they cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them, «Take courage! It is I; don’t be afraid.» «Lord, if it’s you, ” Peter replied, „tell me to come to you on the water.“ „Come, ” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink, and he cried out, „Lord, save me!“ Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. „You of little faith, ” he said, „why did you doubt?“ And when they had climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, „Truly, you are the Son of God.“

I want to talk from this subject, and you don’t have to say it to anyone else, but I just want you to say it out loud: the most important person that will talk to you is you. The person that talks to you the most is you, and so you must be conscious of how you talk to yourself. So I want you to say this out loud, please, everybody who feels comfortable. If you don’t, that’s fine, but if you feel comfortable, say this: „I’m a water-walker.“ Yeah, I want to talk about that today; I’m a water-walker.

Ladies and gentlemen, this passage that I just read in your hearing is not just a passage; it’s a picture. It’s a powerful portrayal of a principle that, if accepted, will advance and accelerate our lives. This text is more than a text; it’s a trampoline that will launch us into levels and dimensions of living that are unattainable without the understanding of and the implementation of this particular principle. This principle, ladies and gentlemen, is one I affectionately title the principle of exception. Someone say „exception.“ Come on, let’s say it again with a little more enthusiasm: say „exception.“

Yeah, Webster—and when I say Webster, I’m referring to the dictionary—because depending on how old you are, if you’re my age, you remember a short dude on TV named Webster. I’m not talking about him; that was one of my favorite shows! But Webster’s dictionary defines „exception“ as a person or thing that is excluded from a general statement and does not follow a rule. So an exception is an anomaly; it is a special case, a deviation, an irregularity.

As I reflect on that definition of an exception, I feel like it fits the description as it relates to the way God sees and addresses His people. From the Old Testament down throughout the New Testament, God seems to suggest that it is His intention for His people to be exceptions, anomalies, irregularities, deviations. He uses words like salt, light, chosen, special, set apart, anointed, beloved, and peculiar to describe His people. That’s not ordinary; that’s not normal; that is exceptional. We are empowered to be called to be people of exception, and therefore we should embrace and accept the principle of exception, which can be captured in the following phrase: Are you ready, note-takers? It’s going to be on the screens for you: „What happens with them does not dictate and determine what happens with me.“

I see examples and instances of this principle all throughout Scripture; it’s powerfully portrayed in the book of Exodus. In Exodus chapter 8, when God’s people are situated in a space called Egypt and they’re enduring all kinds of plagues, God says in Exodus 8, verse 23: „Although you’re in Egypt and although Egypt will experience plagues and agricultural and atmospheric anomalies, I will make a distinction between my people and your people.“ Do you see that? He says it will be different for you than it is for them.

We see another powerful example of this truth two chapters over, right in Exodus chapter 10, verse number 22. It says, „So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all of Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places they lived.“ Do you see that, family? Darkness was covering all of Egypt with the exception of the places where the Israelites lived. One translation puts it this way: „There was darkness in Egypt, but there was light in Goshen.“ Goshen was the place where God’s people resided. Am I making sense?

You see, family, this principle of exception does not suggest we won’t experience what others experience, but it suggests that we can have a different outcome than others have. We may go through some of the same things, but we don’t come out the same way because we can be the exception. Am I making sense? An exception is not a denial of adversity, obstacles, and inconveniences; it is not a dismissal of social norms, but it is a decision that I will not allow what is normal for others to define me, imprison me, and inhibit me from being all I can be.

The Scriptures and society are filled with exceptions, and a water-walker says, „Why can’t I be one of them?“ Somebody say „exception.“ Ninety-year-old women don’t have babies, but God made an exception for a woman named Sarah. Water doesn’t part, creating a path of dry ground so that people can walk through on it, but God made an exception for a man named Moses and the people called Israel. Walls don’t fall from…