Are You Fighting the Current or Riding the Waves?

This was the view out my window this morning. Turbulent seas as far as the eye can see with 20 foot swells, 60 mph winds and dreary skies. Not exactly the kind of day (or night!) my husband and I hoped for on our first morning of a long-awaited tropical vacation. Fortunately we’re the type of people who don’t mind being rocked to sleep by a rolling ocean. But with sky-high swells and roaring winds, our stateroom felt more like a seat on rickety roller coaster than a gently swaying cradle.

During one of the many times I was awake during the night, a favorite childhood Bible story came to mind. And somewhere between sleep and awake, I started seeing Matthew 8:23-27 play out like a movie in the rocking darkness. There was Jesus fast asleep on a tiny wooden fishing boat — a mere 26.5 feet long compared to our 965-foot cruise ship — being tossed about on the Sea of Galilee. As the vision played out, suddenly I understood the magnitude of Him being able to sleep through the storm. Here I was tossing and turning in a soft, warm bed shielded from the wind and rain, and there He was sleeping soundly while 12 other men panicked around Him as water crested the bow and coursed into the boat over and over.

Ok, so yes, we are talking about God incarnate being able to sleep versus a sound-sensitive human like me. But isn’t the question here, why he chose to sleep in the first place and not how? The surface answer is that he chose to sleep to demonstrate to the disciples that in Him  there is 100% peace and rest in any storm — no matter how wet, cold and noisy it is. But as I laid there imagining Peter rushing to wake up a sleeping Jesus, an unusual thought came to my mind — Jesus smiling with his eyes still closed. Here are two men in completely opposite states of mind in the exact same situation. One is in utter panic, fearing for his life and incapable of making sound decisions. And the other is at total peace. So much at peace that He continues to lay there for a minute with a simple, knowing smile on his face as Peter shakes Him forcefully. He knows something Peter doesn’t... yet. He knows that sometimes it is better to ride the waves than fight the current. This is the deeper question Jesus answers for us — when do you rise up and fight the storms of life and when do you simply yield and ride it out?

Oswald Chambers, the great theologian, wrote about this very topic more than a hundred years ago. And God graciously brought it to my attention as this morning's devotional in Oswald’s book My Utmost for His Highest. “The surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer, produces in the surf rider the super joy of going clean through it.” Isn’t it so amazing how God always speaks truth into our lives exactly when we need to hear it?

Oswald’s verse for today is Romans 8:37, which says that we are more than conquerors in Him who loved us. And the other one that came to my mind is Exodus 14:14 where God tells Joshua that he will fight for him. All he needs to do is be still. There are times in all our lives when we have to go through a storm. Sometimes God leads us to fight valiantly for Him as he enables our cause, but other times He wants us to simply be still and let the current have its way with us. In these times His Spirit whispers to us, “to rest... to let go... and just let the waves rock you.” He gently encourages us, “They won’t hurt you if you stop fighting them and instead learn to ride upon them, harnessing their energy and letting them take you to where I want you to go. To learn what I want to teach you. Stop trying to control the storm. You can’t do it anyway. Rather, I want you to lay in the boat and ride it out with me. Marvel at the storm’s ferocity. Get caught up in the wonder of its power and timing. All because you know I control it all. Through me, you can experience peace and even joy in the tribulation because you can rest assured that I will receive all the glory for sustaining you in the turmoil.”

In Matthew 11:28-30 in The Message version, Jesus says, “Walk with me and experience the unforced rhythms of grace.” Isn’t that what the storms of life are really for? They aren’t for us to panic over. They aren’t even for us to earn accolades by weathering them well. They are for us to journey to a deeper level than we could’ve ever imagined — to learn something new about Jesus and how much He loves us. He wants you right next to Him — as close to Him as you can get — in the boat of life. And sometimes that means He has to rock it a bit to get you to fall back next to Him, right where you belong.

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