Last week I took a trip to California to visit my friends and family. During one afternoon we decided to go to the beach. So my mom, my sister, and her two kids (5, and 3) piled into the car and headed down highway 17 to go to the beach. My sister had not been to the beach with the kids very many times and wasn't sure how they would handle the water at this stage. To her surprise, Broderick, the 3 year old who is normally timid and quiet, had a total blast in the water. My mom and I held his hands and swung him in the air each time a wave rolled up to where we stood, and then let him down into the water where he would wiggle around in excitement to do it again. Meanwhile Brandlyn, the 5 year old who is normally the brave, adventurous one, was so terrified of the water that she would not come any closer then the dry sand above where the wet sand marked the reach of the previous waves. After a while of watching her play in the sand, we tried holding her hands, me on one side my mom on the other, and bringing her down to the water just to the point where it would wash over our toes. She was so hysterically upset, despite our constant reassurance that everything would be ok, that we finally gave up and let her go back to dry sand. After a while we decided to take a walk to a light house at the end of the beach. While on the walk I told her how proud I was of her for being brave and walking along the edge of the water and all the way to the light house even though it was scary. When we got back to our spot on the beach, we sat down to enjoy the sun and before we knew it she was running down to the water on her own with her little pale and scooping up water to make wet sand for a castle. She would come running up to us and say "Look I got water! Are you proud of me?" It was so sweet to watch her trust begin to grow and learn the joy of experiencing the water. She started out safe on the sand, having fun, but limiting her adventure by not wanting to go any deeper. Then as she began to experience more of the water, her faith in us and in herself began to grow allowing her to experience a much more fulfilling time at the beach.
I led worship this past Sunday morning at a sweet little church in Bellevue. Last week as I began to prepare, the Lord put on my heart the songs You Make Me Brave, Oceans, and Good Good Father. As I sat down to worship a few nights ago, I was reminded of this story of my niece. I realized that we, as God's children sometimes have the same reaction in our walk with the Lord. He calls us deeper. Calls us into the Ocean. But we choose not to go in. To walk into the deep. Choose not to take a step closer to Him because it means going out to where the waves are, where the wind is raging, where there are depths unknown and unfamiliar. I am reminded of Matthew 14:29-31
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
Peter obeyed the call to go out into the water to meet Jesus but the moment the circumstances seemed unsafe his fear took over. He forgot in that moment that even when everything around him seemed out of control he was with the one who created the very water he stood upon. And with Jesus we are always safe. When He calls us into the deep, He calls us to Himself, into His presence, and where He is, we can stand. We are safer in the storm with Him then on the shore alone. I want to go deeper. I want to be brave, to obey the call to step out of the boat. To trust Him, even if the waves roar all around me. We can stand on His faithfulness, we can go deeper.
"And I will call upon your name, and keep my eyes above the waves, when oceans rise, my soul will rest in Your embrace, for I am Yours and You are mine"
No comments:
Post a Comment