Are you stressed? Struggling? Pressured by life?
We all are told that we need to keep on pushing through when we're struggling, we can’t give up. But it’s so hard when we are surrounded by nothing but hardships. Nothing except for One, and for some reason we don’t want to look at Him.
You’re on a boat in a giant storm with your friends. You’re all terrified, and you seem to only have two choices. You can stay on that boat and potentially sink in the storm, lost and estranged, or you can try to swim for some shore somewhere, lost and desperate.
But a Voice calls to you in your storm, and it doesn’t tell you to do either of the choices you thought that you had. This voice, belonging to the One you refuse to gaze at, is offering to save you. What will you do?
What should you do?
When it comes to sink or swim, walk. Shift your focus to that One, the Only One, The Way, The Truth, and The Life. It’s a very narrow path, and if you move your focus, you could start to sink.
But sinking is not the end. You can still call out to that One, and He will be right there, pulling you up. How do I know? Because right now I’m sinking.
I’m getting distracted by the wind and the waves in my life right now. Will I ever be free? Will I ever see the dry ground again? Why didn’t I appreciate my time on land more? I feel so much pressure from the storm. And even though the voice called me, even though I felt what it was like to walk on that water…. The wind blew me. The water was rolling under my feet and every fear I’ve ever felt has crept back in.
But I called, and the voice answered. And He’s pulling me out of my waves, even though my body is heavy and I’m sinking. Because He. Called. Me.
And He’s calling you, too.
Even if you’re about to step out of the boat, even if you are sinking in the middle of the storm, even if you’re trying to swim for shore and are growing too tired trying to carry your own wait. He. Called. You. And He’s doing it again.
There’s a passage in the Bible where another person is being called. And though he stepped out of the boat, he got distracted from his calling by none other than the storm around him. You can find it in Matthew 14:22-33, but the bottom line is this:
God called Peter.
He called me.
He called you.
Peter followed
I followed-hesitantly, on shaky feet.
You’ve made your own choices.
Peter got distracted
I got distracted…
There was a good reason, too. I mean, a storm like that could kill a person. And Peter, he should probably live to be able to do be able to do good work, right? But in getting distracted, he stopped doing what Jesus called him to do. He did not follow Jesus, and he was afraid.
I took my eyes off Him to focus on my work, the things I have to do. But I’m not following Him who called me, I’m trying to swim on my own. Neither of them is working, and thus I sink.
Are you stressed, like me? Are you sinking under your own weight? Are you terrified and hard-pressed in a storm, finding it impossible to focus on the One who’s calling you?
Well, let me tell you this: nothing is impossible with the One who’s calling you. And He is immediately there when you sink, He is always right there with you. I know, because He does the same for me.
So, when you are in your storm, don’t choose to sink. Don’t choose to swim. Walk on the waves.