Storm Warning: Storm Chasing — Thursday
Matthew 14:29b
So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. (ESV)
I’m not a huge fan of heights. Well, the height itself isn’t the real problem—it’s that wave of nausea that washes over me when I look down from a height. It doesn’t even take a very high height—leaning over a railing at the top of just one flight of stairs will do it. The good news is, in my everyday life, it isn’t hard to pretend like this isn’t a problem and avoid heights altogether.
Our oldest daughter and her husband live out west, and on a visit last year, we went to see the Hoover Dam. It’s quite an amazing place with a crazy high bridge you drive over to get there. I didn’t love that, but I just didn’t look. There’s also a walking path up to and across the bridge, and even I have to admit the view from up there is beautiful!
At one point, as the whole family was excitedly marching toward the bridge, the knot in my stomach tightened, and I could practically hear my brain telling my feet to stop walking toward almost certain death! Thankfully, no one in my family was surprised by my hesitancy, and after some mostly good-natured teasing, I was pressured into walking across the bridge. The view was worth it, and we have some really fun pictures of our crazy hair in the wind. I’m glad I went with them—although if we went back again, I’m pretty sure my first response would be the same.
Even when our first response is fear and hesitation, we still have a choice to make: Do we step out in faith and trust what we know, or do we let our feelings and fears drive us? I knew the bridge was safe—there are hundreds if not thousands of people walking across it every day—but sometimes our doubts and fears can be louder than what is true.
When life is hard or something unfamiliar pops up, things can feel scary and unsafe, but we have to remember what is true: Jesus is there. He’s right outside the boat in the middle of our storms, and we can choose to step out in faith as Peter did and trust Jesus instead of our feelings. Nothing we are experiencing is a surprise to Him, and nothing is more than HE can handle.
Thursday’s Reflection
While feelings of fear and hesitation are real, they are not always true. When they pop up, pray and ask God to remind you of what is true.