Come

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Sometimes life just seems to hit you like crazy storm, doesn't it? Like, all of a sudden you're being slammed by pounding hail and torrential downpour. You can do nothing but stand there, in the very center of it, and feel the full force of the torrent. Those moments are hard, I know. But sometimes, in the very middle of the rage of that storm, something really beautiful happens.

The Lord brings all kinds of circumstances into our lives for a purpose. He's never gonna look at something going on in our life and say "Oh no! How'd that get there? This is such a tragic mess!" No! He knows every detail of every moment of our lives, and a infinitely more beyond that! Each circumstance, whether full of joy or sadness or pain or confusion, is allowed into our life, by Him, to fulfill a purpose within His will.


Even the storms.

Sometimes the Lord veils His purpose behind a situation for a while and then reveals it later. Sometimes He allows us to see right away why He's doing what He's doing. And still other times He never lets us know quite why we had to go through what we went through; but that doesn't change the fact that He alone is sovereign- that He alone is God.

The Lord has been teaching me lately about His sovereignty. He has been slowly revealing to me some different aspects of what that looks like in my life, and He's been teaching me how to respond to it. One thing that He's had me learning is how to hear His voice even in the midst of the chaos going on around me. It isn't easy, in fact, it was quite painful to figure out; but He is a God full of grace and He has certainly shown me a lot of grace as of late!

Answer me this real quick, if you would. Have you ever been in a situation where your life feels as though it's falling apart? Similar to when you try to cup water in your hands and it just empties out of the cracks between your fingers, you just feel as though you've lost all control and direction of your very existence? Yeah, me too. And you know what? Someone else has, as well.

Check out Matthew 14:22-34 for a sec. (You can click the handy dandy link I set up there for ya. :D) This is the account of the disciples right after Jesus's huge miracle of feeding the 5,000+ people. They were probably all on cloud nine after witnessing such an event. I can hear them now, still buzzing with excitement over the whole ordeal as they boarded that boat. I'm sure their spiritual high was immense! 

I can totally relate to them in that moment. Just a few months ago, I, also, was experiencing a spiritual high. (You can read about it here) The Lord was really seeming to work in my life and I was pumped! This is a wonderful thing, and I'm sure you've felt it at some point as well. That cloud nine feeling you get when things are smooth-sailing spiritually is  wonderful, the only catch is, it usually doesn't stay that way. 

Everyone goes through seasons in their Christian faith-walk. We're humans living in a sin-filled world- that's just the way it is. Even the disciples found themselves struggling only hours after experiencing such a major event.  

Verse 24 says "and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it." 

Buffeted. That's like being hit really hard over and over. So the wind was literally sending the waves smashing into the side of the boat super aggressively. I'd be willing to bet that that boat ride was awful! With wind forcing its way around them above the water and the waves slamming into the boat below them, they were probably hanging on for dear life! They had had such an amazing day of miracles before this and now they were probably wondering if they'd even live to see the next shore. 

You know, it wasn't too long after I posted that article about my spiritual high that the Lord began to lead me into a very rough patch spiritually. There were days, over the past few weeks, that I ended crying out to God. Literally crying! In those moments of pain, I had a hard time remembering the cloud nine I had just come off of. I felt like those boat-bound disciples just being slammed one after another by pounding waves. It was like "Just kick me while I'm down." But you know what? The Lord didn't abandon me in that place, and He didn't abandon the disciples either. Read on...

Verse 25 continues with- "Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.

27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”"

He came to them, literally trampling over the very thing that tormented them, by walking on the water. He just stepped over those waves as if it were nothing. Picture, for a moment, that cheesy painting everyone has seen of Jesus (all glowing of course) walking over a serene little lake toward a perfectly still boat. Oh blah! That's not right at all! Scripture never tells us that the wind died down any as He walked toward them. Scripture never says that the boat stopped being slammed by waves in the very moment that He called to them saying "Don't be afraid." No! How cool is that! 

Picture now the disciples, in a boat that's been being battered for who-knows-how-long by ferocious wind and waves, looking out to see Jesus as He just strolls over the very source of their torment. Scripture goes on to say that they were afraid and didn't recognize Him. Well I guess not! How often do you see people walking over ridiculous waves as if it's a stroll down the boardwalk?! And yet, there He came! 

He came to me, too, in my time of spiritual storm. He came. The storm didn't calm any. But I knew He was there with me. 

What happens next in this account is absolutely astounding. Peter, one of the disciples closest in relation with Jesus, calls out to Him-

"“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”"

How often do we, as humans, act like that? How often do we question "Lord if it's really you then <requests sign of proof>"? I know I was guilty of doing just that only a few weeks ago.  I had a "Lord if this is what you want for me, prove it" type of moment. I honestly don't know whether to tell you if that reaction is good or bad, but I know it's a human one. People all throughout Scripture ask that same type of thing of God over and over. Moses with the burning bush. Gideon with the wet and dry skins. Jonah with the big fish. Peter with this storm. Me in that moment. You.

Honestly, I think the Lord just smiles at us in that moment. Kinda like that helpless father of the demon-possessed child where he tells Jesus "I believe. Lord help my unbelief." [Mark 9:23-24] He knows us. He knows that we're weak and helpless on our own. I believe it's for that very reason that He sends some of these storms in our life- to prove to us His strength and our need for Him in those times. 

Anyway! So Peter asks, and how does Jesus respond?

Verse 29 "“Come,” he said."

Come! Jesus said "Come"!!! Like, how totally God-powerful is that? There, in the midst of the crashing waves and ferocious wind, He literally calls Peter out of the comfort and safety of that boat and onto the raging sea beneath him. 

Jesus did the same for me. (And I'm totally not making this stuff up! Seriously, the past few months have been inSANE!) As I cried out to God in fear and hurt, His still, steady, unwavering voice asked me to do something WAY WAY outside of my normal zone of comfort. 

Do you think Peter was comfortable as he swung his legs over the side of that rocking boat onto the waves beneath him? Certainly not! But the rest of verse 29 tells us-

"Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus."

Y'all, I know it hurts. I have felt the pain and confusion and utter terror of life's storms before. I've walked in that path, so have others before us (look at Peter). I know the crashing waves and noisy chaos of the wind that makes up the current state of the storm in your life is hard. I know! But please, in the midst of all that chaos, listen for Jesus. Look for Him to walk over those waves. Cuz He will. But as you do, be ready for Him to call you out toward Him. Be ready for Him to invade your comfort zone and challenge you to walk over the waves yourself. Be ready. 

I encourage you to read the rest of that passage of Scripture. That may be another topic for us on here at some point. For now though, I'll leave you with this thought to ponder-

If Jesus were to say "Come" to you, would you even get out of your boat?