Above Water: Overwhelmed Part 4

When the waters of life feel like they’re closing in, there is a way to stay above the rising tide.

The account of Jesus walking on water never bothered me. He is God and has full authority over the natural laws (Matthew 14:25). The part where he calls Peter out onto the waves, however, has long perplexed me. Particularly in this metaphor of coping with the perpetual feeling of overwhelmed-ness. Let’s look at it again: 

And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said,“Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” — Matthew 14:28-31 ESV

You’ve likely been pointed to those critical words to understand why Peter sank. “… when he saw the wind…” The implication is that when our eyes are on on Jesus, we’ll be okay. When we look at all the tumult around us, we’re likely to sink.

But how do we translate that into our lives today when Jesus isn’t present in bodily form?

How do we keep our eyes on Jesus in the midst of our day-to-day tasks… the ones that seem to keep piling up and crashing against us like the waves Peter was afraid of? We do have to remember Who God is and His authority over the created world. Keeping our eyes on Him requires us to reinforce our habit of spending time with Him. When we already feel our time is too scarce for all we have to accomplish or cope with, it’s tempting to stay in bed a little longer (since we got there too late!) for extra shut-eye, or to eliminate it from our calendar later in the day to cross something else off the list instead. Yet this is likely our greatest error. Our need for help staying above water must drive us closer to Him, pressing in for more time, not less.

[Tweet “When time feels short, yield more of it to Christ, not less. He will see you through. #overwhelmed #faith”]

Peter had legitimate reason to fear for his life on a tumultuous ocean. But the one thing he neglected was the one thing that could spare him: staying focused on his Lord. He did the right thing in asking Jesus to save him when he began to sink. But he never even needed to get his knees wet had he been singularly fixed on the One who called him out of the boat.

May I urge you, friends, to pause right now and spend some time with Him? Even when you feel time is short, stopping to inflate the life raft is always wise.

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