You have probably heard the saying that if you are seasick, you should fix your eyes on something solid and unmoving. I was challenged by this simple thought this week. Living by the ocean, there has been more than one time that as I stood on the shore, and a big wave came in over my feet, I would get a little dizzy with all that swirling water! I can only imagine how it would be in a boat in the middle of the ocean.
Matthew 14 tells the familiar story of Jesus walking on water. It was nighttime, and the Bible says that the "wind was contrary" which probably means that there would have been a lot of waves. When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they thought it was a ghost. Jesus, to calm their fears, called out, "It is I, be not afraid." Peter, typically impulsive, called back, "Lord if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." Jesus then answered, "Come." I attempted to put myself into Peter's shoes as he stepped out onto the water in my imagination. What if it isn't Jesus? What if this is some kind of trick? I wonder how deep this thing really is. What if I drown?
As Peter stepped out onto the water that day, he had faith. The water held him as his gaze was fixed on Jesus. He took one step forward, then began to look around. The waves were high and swelling underneath him. The clouds and fog were thick and foreboding. Surely this water wouldn't hold him. It couldn't! It didn't. The water gave way underneath Peter's feet as he looked around, because he had let his fears override his original faith. Frantically he cried out, "Lord help me!" and Jesus reached out his hand. Peter took hold of his hand, and made it back to the ship.
Peter had begun to get seasick and nervous as he took that step forward on the water. Who among us wouldn't have? In our regular day-to-day life, when a storm of life comes up, we suddenly start looking at the things around us and get overwhelmed--seasick. We see the waves coming toward us, and feel the waves swelling under us. We feel as if we are going to go down. But if we fix our eyes then on Someone solid and unmoving, our Rock of Ages, suddenly "the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace"! :)
May God bless your week!
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing, Kristel. You really gave me a different perspective on the story.
Sometimes I think back to that story when I'm trusting God with something that seems so blind and doubtful. It's amazing to be able to trust God with something which you're confident that He will answer, and yet you see no way that it can happen. =D I love watching as God opens one door after another to accomplish that which He has purposed.
"The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand..." (Isaiah 14:24)
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8)
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