The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea. — John 21:7 NIV
Do you ever feel as if you’re drowning? If so, you are not alone. I know what it feels like to be certain you can’t do this for one more day. I know what I feels like to labor under the weight of other people’s prayers, afraid to jump headfirst into icy water that might be far from safe.
- But what if you aren’t actually drowning?
What if what you feel is just part of a long-distance swim? And what if the winter season you find yourself in will soon give way to a springtime of renewed hope and purpose?
While we don’t always know where God will lead us, I have seen that no matter what happens next, we can trust God to hold us through it. He will go before us, and so we can hold more loosely to the plans we thought were crucial, that maybe won’t come to fruition, knowing that God’s plans always redeem. We don’t have to have the answers, but we do have a God who feels like a safe space to bring all our questions.
There are prayers that have gone before you. You know that the tide always changes. You know how to mark the victories on stones that become the faith that then you stand on. And you know that even if all is shaken, the core of who you are in Christ will remain.
In the meantime, I encourage you to know your stories, to write them down. Pray for eyes to see and ears to hear. Don’t just tell God what you don’t see; ask God to reveal in you what God sees. And I want you to tell people your stories. Both the pain and the praise. Let your story encourage them in a season where it feels like no one will ever understand. Write down the dates and the prayers and the tears. Write down when it is awful. Tell them about the projects that got cancelled and the funding that got pulled. Tell them about the lack of resources and the dead ends.
Look for opportunities to make moments other people will remember. Pay attention to your own story and interrupt other people’s lives with shockwaves of kindness.
Be the answer to people’s prayers. Be the turning point on their page that no one ever saw coming.
And trust me when I tell you that your entire life can change on a random afternoon. Every single one of us is always only one step, or one hello, or one day away from the season changing. Which is why you must endure.
The only way to have stories worth telling is to believe that your life is worth living. We have to be fully present in our own lives. Don’t avoid deep water. Don’t numb yourself from the cold. God will bring order out of chaos. Your job is to keep the passion burning in between. Life is what you prepares you for life. The biggest mistake most adults make is thinking that their story is over. But God loves impossible and improbable situations; it’s one of the ways you will know that it was only God.
I don’t know what God is calling you to. But I do know that passion is calling. I believe with all my heart that God is calling you to serve right where you are. To stop resisting your own life. To put your feet in the water, even if the waves are rising. And I believe you don’t have to hustle harder. You just have to be faithful with what has been placed in your hands.
As Isaiah 43:1–3 reminds us,
Now this is what the Lord says — the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel — ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you... For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior’. — CSB
I want you to multiply small moments. To be willing to walk the block with God. To be willing to serve your passions rather than have your passions serve you. To be willing to help the people next to you, whether with a little or with a lot.
Life will always have seasons that bring you low. You can’t escape them. But ocean tides go in and out. Waves roll back to sea. The sun gives way to the darkness, and the darkness gives way to the sun. Snow will turn to water. And to love and to suffer are both Christ. To avoid either love, or suffering, would be to avoid life itself.
I encourage you to start living your own life. Reengage in your own story. You think you are too old, or too young, or too forgotten, or too unimportant for God to consume your life in passion? You’re not! Maybe you think it’s too late for you. You gave up so much already for what feels like so little. Your story doesn’t feel like it is part of a broader one. All of those years you spent enduring, and you think you have nothing to show for it. It might be tempting to conclude that all hope is lost.
But, my dear friend, what if you’re wrong? What if hope is just over the next wave? What if you could just keep swimming, trusting that God will be faithful to keep you afloat?
Dear Lord, thank You for the promise that You are with me, whether on the shore or in the deep, and that You will keep me safe when the waters threaten to overwhelm me. Amen.
Written for Devotionals Daily by Heather Thompson Day, author of What If I’m Wrong?
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Your Turn
Hang on! Keep going even if you’re in a dark, depressing place right now. Even if your head is under water in the storm. The Lord is with you and He will bring you through! ~ Devotionals Daily