When the
bottom drops out of the sea!
Over these
last two days we have had the privilege to be in some of the most beautiful
settings in the world, or at least we think so.
Yesterday we
were by a huge Lake in southern Turkey, surrounded by Blue Mountains on one
side and green on the other. A promenade of cafes and moored boats and a vast
blue lake.
As we walked
towards the water’s edge the wind was blowing quite strong in our faces, and
then we noticed that the lake was rough and choppy, and a small boat seemed to
be struggling to reach the shore.
We had
visited that area to take the sunset cruise, but when seeing the water we chose
to sit in a café for two hours and just watch the boats.
Meshiel
spoke of how the boat, struggling in the wind reminded her of the boats in the
Bible on Lake Galilee.
On two occasions
was have the disciples crossing the lake in the storm, on one occasion Jesus is
asleep in the stern and the disciples fear for their lives and wake Him, at
once He is in control and the storm is calmed.
Today I was reminded of the other
time when Jesus walks on the water.
We visited a beach not far from where
we are staying, a flat, sandy beach on the Aegean Sea. Again there was quite a
breeze and the waves were breaking onto the shore with a burst of warm white
foam.
We go running into the waves, bay
watch style, style is probably a bit of a strong word, if you had seen us.
The waves were so strong, they
crashed against our bodies, at times almost covering us completely.
When we got through the crashing bit it
seemed quite calm.
The waves would rise and fell and we
would try to allow our bodies to rise and fall with them.
In moments of high confidence you can
allow yourself to fully float on your back, your natural buoyancy riding the
waves.
As Jesus
approached the boat walking on the water, Peter called to Him and had the faith
to walk out of the boat, on the water towards Jesus. We know how that ended,
seeing the waves, feeling the wind, and taking his focus of Jesus, saw the
bottom fall out of Peter’s sea.
Today from a
moment of total confidence, floating high on the waves, all ended in panic as a
huge wave came crashing down and the bottom seemed to fall out of the sea.
It is a natural
instinct to try and keep our feet in touch with the ground even in the sea. It
takes faith to lift your feet up and float, to ride on the waves.
So often it
seems impossible for us to touch the bottom when the storms are raging around
us, we seem to be taken by the waves.
Why do we
forget that when we have faith in the master of the storm, faith enough to lie
back and rest, faith that looks up into the heavens and not into waves, we are
given the power to see the storm out.
As we came
to sunset, yesterday, the lake was like a mirror reflecting the glory of the
skies and the fish danced in the warmth of the evening.
There is
always a great calm when we allow Jesus to see us through the storms, fully
relying on Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment