Recently, I've been seeing a lot of this picture online by Yongsung Kim
(by the way follow the link and see some of his other work -- the Lord has really blessed him with such artistic gifting!)
It's a picture with the viewer sinking under the water and Jesus reaching down to grab him/her/YOU/ME out of the water.
It's beautiful.
I know I have felt this way many times.
I believe we all have ... and, outside of the beautiful perspective and use of color, there is a part of every single one of us that can relate to this.
There have been times in all our lives we feel ourselves sinking into the deep.
Suffocating, drowning, helpless, hopeless ... just ... DONE.
The Bible tells us of how Jesus called Peter out of the boat during a storm - and invited him to walk on the water out to Him. (Matthew 14:22-33) There have been amazing songs sung (Uh - Hello!... "Oceans"...!), poems penned, sermons brilliantly delivered and books written on this amazing story about Jesus, Peter, walking on water, doubt and sinking.
After all - it IS amazing.
All of it.
The courage to do something no other person on earth has done simply because the Lord Jesus Christ called you out. The audacity to let go of everything you know to follow what you only know in faith. The reality of storms and waves surrounding you ... and that very real fear.
The undeniable swells of fear and doubt every single one of us know all too well.
Then the growing fear and you feel the waters pull at your legs and drag you down.
....but it doesn't stop there....
The humility cry for help - and then accept it!
And the Truth that the Lord Jesus will reach out and catch you.
Truth.
Incredible!
But, that is not what this post is about.
This is about the storm.
You see, there are times the Lord calls you to walk on the water to Him.
And there are times He tells you to swim with Him....
maybe in peaceful waters ...
maybe diving underneath the powerful waves and sometimes insistent winds.
I've been there, too.
But then the storms whip up - the shore is out of sight.
Like Dory to Nemo ..."Just keep swimming!"
Those times you just feel beat up by life.
Yes, Jesus is still there with us.
But that freezing wind hurts.
And the force of the waves...
even with ducking under them, the swirls sometimes spin you around a few times only to allow you to surface, gasp a breathe and go back down....
they have grown into a full-blown storm.
I know full well, Jesus could easily calm the storm. He did in the Bible!
But, yet, this storm still rages.
There's no boat to step out of.
Just me, Jesus and the storm.
I hate those times. I've been feeling like that lately.
It's not a "walking on water" kind of time in my life.
No.
It's been more of the "How will I survive this?" kind of time.
The swim has become more than exhausting ... the fun was lost long ago.
(if it ever existed)
The wave have grown from the routine paddle - duck - dive - breathe - repeat.
I barely remember what it's like to breathe deeply a full breath of clean air.
And that's when I heard I had it all wrong.
What!?
"Seriously??"... I thought .. "couldn't you have told me this sooner, Lord?"
Truth is, I needed to come to that point of calling for help to actually "get it."
That's when the Lord spoke softly to my spirit:
Go Deeper....
What?!
Deeper -- diver deeper.
To the bottom. Come with Me deeper.
As I did I found the waters silenced.
The waters embraced me - there was no more fight.
No more waves beating the fight out of me.
No more winds whipping cold sprays against my face.
Just - peace.
Jesus Christ is referred to as our Anchor in Hebrews ... Set solidly on the bottom of the ocean.
Holding me - you - us steady in the storms.
Don't you see it? ... holding tightly to the hope we have in Jesus - our anchor - we are saved from the storms.
Oh - the storm are still there! And there's no denying it's BAD!
But they don't own us anymore - they don't dictate our movement, spin us around and confuse us anymore
This was a new concept for me... looking at these water analogies together.
(And I didn't even cover them all! ...!)
Of course, then the rational side of me got a bit nervous (yes, you can read that as doubt) as I was being shown this example of what the Lord was saying when He was calling me deeper... under the surface and far, far below the waves.
HOW WAS I TO BREATHE!?
Hahaha! I know .. silly, right? Well, I thought it was a valid questions. 😏
And that query was met with a flood of Bible verses on the Lord giving and even BEING our breath.
EVERY breath I take - every breath YOU take ... is from the Lord.
If there is to be any breath at all -- literal or figurative -- it is because you were gifted it by the Lord God Almighty.
There is nothing to fear.
And absolutely no ownership I can claim... it's all the Lord's.
So that's where I am these days -- a bit beaten up.
Gimpy.
But still learning.
Learning that, as Ecclesiastes outlines -- there are times for everything.
Including a time to...
walk on water,
a time to swim - and duck under the waves,
and a time to dive deeper --- all ... the ... way ... down to the anchor.
Are you finding yourself in one of these?
If not, I praise the Lord with you for the rest He's given you!
If so ... know you are not alone.
Every storm ends eventually.
So, follow your Leader -- He may call you to walk on the water, swim and duck under the littler waves, or dive deeper -- all they way down to the anchor and find His peace... then HOLD ON.
