Monday: Life Preserver

Matthew 14:30-31, “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ And Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’”

Water and I have a complicated relationship. I think it is beautiful. I love to listen to the sound of the waves drown out everything else around me as I sit safely on the beach and watch them roll in. I also have a healthy fear of water. I’ve watched movies where the storm rolls in and the music turns suspenseful, and you know, something scary is about to happen. Also, I’m not a great swimmer. I can swim, but I don’t enjoy water in my face or not knowing what I’m swimming with because is it ever really “just a fish”? I can think of a few instances where I can pinpoint when my healthy respect/fear for water began. The first instance was when I was around 7 years old. My siblings and I got to spend the night at grandma’s house. My grandma’s house was always fun. She let us eat junk food, drink pop, stay up late, watch cartoons, and swim in the pool – and not just swim but SPLASH in the pool. I was learning how to swim, but she always had floaties for us kids and we knew to not go in the deep end without an adult. One summer day we all got our swimsuits on and raced out to the pool. I was one of the first, grabbed my unicorn inflatable and jumped into the pool with not a care or fear in the world. However, when I jumped in the pool my floatie must have caught on the pool ladder and gotten a small tear in it and unbeknownst to me, my life preserver was quickly turning into a sad, deflated floatie. I bobbed on the surface of the pool and then began to sink – and when I began to sink, real fear kicked in and I panicked. The water came over my head, my arms were flailing, and I screamed “Help!” before going under the water again. I knew I was in trouble. And then I felt arms around me pushing me to the surface and to the side of the pool. I looked to see who my hero was and got a, “Congratulations on almost drowning yourself, Air Head” from none other than my brother T.J. I was too exhausted to even be offended as he pounded my back and made sure I was ok. 

Flash forward to sixth grade. Gym Class: Water Edition. I had taken swimming lessons and felt fairly confident in the water for being a girl who still likes to keep her head ABOVE the water. One day during class, we had the diving board challenge. I can still feel my knees knocking together as I climbed up that ladder, I can feel the slight bounce of the diving board as I walked to the end, I can feel my heart racing as I looked down, down, down into the water, and I can hear my teacher yelling at me to jump already. Everything in me wanted to turn around and climb to safety; however, there was a boy behind me, taunting me, and the only boys allowed to tease me were my brothers. So, I took a deep breath, jumped, and dove with all the grace of a twelve-year-old who’d never been known to be graceful could muster – SMACK right into the water. OUCH! I think I swallowed half the pool that day. So gross.

A few years later and I got to go to Hawaii with Seth. I hadn’t really experienced many beaches and had no idea that beaches have a mind of their own. We were walking in the water – just up to our knees, splashing and having fun, when all of a sudden, the water was way over my head! I reached for Seth, and do you know what he did? HE DUNKED ME. He thought I was trying to dunk him in the water, and so HE DUNKED ME. I am still salty about it to this day, probably because of all the saltwater I swallowed when I was drowning in the most beautiful ocean, on a beautiful beach, many people call paradise.

When I first heard the Biblical account of Peter walking on the water, I was mesmerized. I remember thinking to myself as a little girl, “I’d get out of the boat. I’d be brave. I’d believe. I’d know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.” Do you know I never even questioned myself getting out of that boat, into that water, even after all of those scary childhood water incidents? However, as I grew up and gained more experience in the world and how the world works, somewhere along the way, that child-like faith that would have gladly jumped out of that boat grew into a more distant, worldly-wise faith that would have sat safely in the boat and shook my head at the one who had the faith to walk on the water - and all of this happened without my even recognizing the change. I began to fear storms, to focus on the wind, the waves, the lightning, the thunder – and forgot to focus on the One Who Calms the Storms, the One Who the Wind and the Seas Obey. Instead, I allowed fear and pain a place in my heart and didn’t even realize that the trust I so easily placed in my Savior as a child was being replaced by anxiety. I had experienced hurt and trauma, and focused on protecting myself from further hurt instead of trusting that God wanted to use ALL of my experiences for my good and His glory. I looked at my Rescuer’s hand, but I didn’t reach out and allow Him to pull me to safety. I clung to that hurt instead of letting it go to be replaced with healing and new beginnings. 

Trusting can be difficult in the best of times, and life’s hardships can sometimes overwhelm us if we take our focus off of the Preserver of our Life. Praise the Lord, He doesn’t leave us. Ever. I have learned that emotions can lead us astray, especially when we are hurting, angry, or afraid, so we must rely on what we know to be true. To claim the promises of God and hold onto them like the Life Preserver they are. 2 Timothy 4:18 declares, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Trusting God requires surrendering your will for His and knowing that His purpose and plan is best. It’s time to say “so long” to those intrusive thoughts and stop resisting rescue. Respond to every single “What-If” with “But God.”  

Why do we doubt? Why is faith so hard? We know it’s important, powerful, necessary - and vital, yet oftentimes we flounder in our faith because simply put: faith takes work. We must constantly work to remain in our faith, to strengthen our faith. Just like every other relationship, communication is key. We must keep our focus and turn our eyes on our Heavenly Father in both the storms of life and the mountain tops of life. Don’t get distracted by the view. Remember: Rescue Requires Recourse. Recourse means that we turn to something or someone for help or protection. Who or what do we turn to when we need rescuing? We must turn to Christ for true rescue. We must learn to trust our Rescuer by striving to get to know our Rescuer through reading His Word, prayer, gathering together with other believers, and living a life that would bring glory to His name.  We dig deep when we are going through trials, we cling to our faith, and we step out of the boat knowing that it’s not a plastic life preserver that will save us, but rather the Creator of All Things, and we get to call Him Father.

Read: Matthew 14:22-33

Do: Have you acknowledged your need for a Rescuer to save you from sin? Christian, have you ever resisted rescue? How can you work to trust God in all things and accept the Life Preserver He offers to us in each and every storm we face?

Pray: Write out a prayer and ask God to help you trust Him to be your Life Preserver in both the calm and stormy seas. Ask Him for the faith needed to step out of the boat and do what He has called you to do.