Hi. Once again, it has been a while. I have a ton to share, but this particular post is something that took nearly half a year to figure out properly. (And it is something we can all relate to.) Be looking for more soon, though, because there are a lot of truths that I want to share with those around me. Without further ado, I present to you my effort at another blog. haha
Ok, so I get it….
There are hundreds of books, articles, prints, pictures, and speeches given over the topic of peace. “Jesus gives peace,” and “Rejoice in your struggles, brethren” seem to echo across Church stages all over America. Now, I agree with both of those statements, but speaking from experience, I know that when life gets hard, those two truth pills are… hard to swallow. So I am not here to give you one of those. This blog is meant to open our eyes to our own faith during trouble, and also to what Jesus does for us even in the midst of troubles. Let me start with a story…
A group of middle aged men decided to make a journey across a VERY large lake. Upon embarking on their journey, the boat was caught in turbulent weather. It was the dead of night when the wind whipped, and the boat rocked to and fro in the waves, like a Dasani water bottle cap turned upside down in a swimming pool. The men fought, gripping the ropes to keep the sail from flying away with the wind, while some simply clung to the railing of the boat and hoped that the storm would not grow any worse. At about 3 am when their strength began to fade, the men saw something out on the water… A MAN. The men grew afraid and began to say to one another, “It must be a ghost!” As the men were shaking and quivering in the boat, the man on the water called out to them with comfort in his voice, saying, “Do not be afraid, my children. Take courage. I AM here.” Then, one of the men in the boat, recognizing him said, “Oh, my Lord! If it is really you, let me walk to you on the water, as well!” The man, who is the Lord, said, “Yes. Of course. Come.” So over the side of the boat the zealous man went, walking towards the Lord, who is called, Yeshua. His feet touched the water gently, and he felt the coolness of it, softly caressing his feet. But he did not sink. He looked at the Lord and walked towards him, as a toddler might take their first steps. His mind was at peace while he watched Yeshua standing there, waiting for him, but out of his peripheral vision he saw the waves coming towards him. He felt the rustle of wind through his tunic, whipping it about as if it were dancing. He turned and noticed how far away the boat was and how the men in it were staring at him with wide eyes. He grew very afraid. Perhaps I will sink, he thought, This is an impossible circumstance. I don’t belong here. This is too much… And then he felt the water make its way up to his ankles and calves, slowly at first, and then suddenly, as if the lake were swallowing him, he fell in. Choking and sputtering, he called out, “Save me, Lord!” And at that exact moment, he felt a hand grab him and yank him out of the water. Dripping and once again standing on top of the water, he faced our Lord, who said to him gently, with a pained face, “You have so little faith… Why did you doubt me?” To this, the man stood stunned. Speechless, Yeshua ushered him back into the boat and as He Himself climbed in, the wind and waters calmed and became as still and serene as glass. Then the men, who were still in awe of the absurdity of the events, proclaimed, “You really are the Lord. You really are the Son of God!”*
So let me ask you a question: Why do you doubt Jesus?
No, no, no. Don’t say you don’t. Don’t give yourself an out on this and stop reading this blog because I said we lack faith in Christ through difficulties sometimes. It is true. That man in the story of above, if you don’t already know, was Peter. That’s right. Peter. The disciple of the Christ! Dude was insanely faithful to Jesus. (Minus a few really BIG incidents that sort of marked him as a flaky character to some theologians, heck, to some Christians in general.) But, the truth is, we are like Peter in most cases. Or we are like the other guys who stayed in the boat (which isn’t any better). For Peter, his faith to step out of the boat and go to Jesus was affected by worldly reason, which told him he shouldn’t be walking on water, and that the waves and wind would surely drown him. And as for the other disciples still in the boat, their faith was in the boat they were standing in. They believed it would keep them from drowning, but in truth, it was God who allowed their boat to float to begin with. They just didn’t see it.
You see, when life gets crazy we tend to do one of two things, try to take it on ourselves in reckless abandon, or we wallow in self pity. Both of these approaches lack faith. All Jesus wants of us is to keep our eyes on Him. You see, this story tells it right: We should keep our eyes on Jesus in complete faith, walking on the water that is the chaos of this life, but when we find ourselves sinking, our response shouldn’t be to swim back to the boat, it should be to call out to Jesus to save us. THAT is faith. The continuous running to Jesus. He knows we don’t have the ability to remain steadfast in our faith constantly, but he does remain steadfast in his love for us, and seeks to deliver us when we call upon him.
Thank you and God bless. As usual, let me know how I can be praying for you, and watch for the next blog! I pray this was an encouragement to those who read it.
-GLS
*Mathew 14:22-33
Bearlee Afloat 