I See Jesus in the Waves

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.  But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

                                       Matthew 14:22-33

 

I feel like Peter.  I feel overwhelmed by life, waves crashing all around me but I see Jesus in the waves.  I beg Him to give me a command to come to Him.  When He does sometimes I just start sinking and I need Him to give me a hand up. 

I wrote in my journal just yesterday that I was overwhelmed and I prayed for encouragement.  God is a loving God and He gave me just what I asked for and more.  I went to bed with a smile on my face praising Him for all he had done. 

I see Jesus in the waves.  I know that if, or should I say when, my focus is distracted by the waves that I will sink.  Thank you Jesus that you are there and will not let me fall. 

When I wake each morning before I even open my eyes my prayer is a cry for help.  I know that without the Lord’s help I may as well stay in bed.  I need His strength to get out of bed, to smile, to love my children the way that He desires me to love them and the way they deserve to be loved.  I need His strength to focus on Him in all the waves that were there when I went to bed and for the new ones that are yet to come.  I NEED HIM. 

“The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.”  Psalm 34:17

This is not meant to sound like a, “whoa is me” kind of thing.  I know that everyone of us has waves and many have waves much bigger than mine.  What it is meant to sound like is the cry of a woman who is so broken and in need of her savior that she cannot make it a second in her day without Him. 

I don’t care that I sound pathetic to some.  A broken and contrite heart the Lord will not despise (Psalm 51:17).  We all want to look like we have it together on the outside.  We want our children to know and love Jesus.  We want to be good examples to them of what a right relationship with Christ looks like.  We want to teach them to hide the word of God in their hearts.  But a good question to ask ourselves is this:  Am I adding Jesus to my life or am I completely dependent on Him? 

I don’t want to simply add Him to my life like a new math curriculum.  He tells me in Matthew 11:28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  I want that rest.  I need that rest. 

Mom, He wants that for you to.  He is inviting you.  His mercies are new every morning.  His invitation is fresh each day for you to come to Him.  Life is hard.  There was never any plan for it to be easy here on earth.  You need Him and that is okay.  As a matter of fact, that is awesome.  Run into His arms and just relax.  He won’t drop you; He will never leave you or forsake you.  You are His and He longs for you to be completely dependent on Him. 

Lord, I pray that when the waves of life are crashing in around us that we will look for you in them and see you.  Help us to focus on you and to come to you for the rest that you offer.  It is humbling Lord to be so needy of you but it is right and good, it brings you pleasure and it brings us peace. 

 

Take the time to listen to this song: Forever Reign by Passion (KristianStanfill)