Engulfed in the deep ocean of life are the souls of many, yelling noiselessly for a saviour.
I recall an experience I had when I was say eight-years. It was a hot afternoon when our class went on an excursion to ‘Blue Island’. It was a place full of pools. And in a split moment I slipped into the water, having no swim experience prior, I began to drown, screaming to no avail for help as I took in more than enough gulps of tasteful water. I thought that was the end but fortunately it wasn’t, something strange happened during that encounter. Just follow me.
I saw a movie recently ” All the money in the world” and there was a scene in which a son was put in charge of the Father’s empire, it was too much for Him to handle he thought aloud but too golden to resist. His Father made a striking statement as He tried to resist “I have given it to you, sink or swim”.
Drowned in the ocean of life are the souls of many overcome by the storms and waves of life. At the sight of oncoming waves the focus shifts, hearts fail and the drown inevitable.
“You called me out upon the waters, the great unknown where feet may fail, and there I find you in the mystery, in oceans deep my faith will stand…”. These lyrics to the song “Oceans” tells me that God wants us to come out on the waters because that’s where you’ll find Him. The treasures of life are not found on surfaces but in the deep. He calls us out into the deep so we can find His treasures.
Many drown in the ocean of life because they’d rather stay stuck in a boat that’s about to be ship wrecked instead of getting out on the water to meet the one who calls us. As long as Peter’s eyes were on Jesus He walked upon the water. But the storms of life often distract us from the one we ought to be looking at so we start sinking.
The issue is not in sinking but refusing to fight for survival, and how do you do that? By calling on to Jesus. Sustain your focus on Jesus so that He becomes magnified in your life, while the waves diminish. In the song “how deep is the love” there’s a line that says “the darker the days, the brighter the focus”.
Out of your comfort zone (the boat) you will often fall, with strength failing you and doubts arising but it is in your reaching out that you stay afloat in the ocean of life.
So as I screamed helplessly for help, my soul fighting for survival, suddenly I felt something like a stone which I held onto as I quaked with fear and I found myself afloat again. They were like stools in the water for people to hold on to. I clung tight to it until I got out of that horrific experience.
Are you brave enough to accept the challenge to go out into the deep waters of life like Peter? and after you do, are you willing to accept the fears, failings and doubts that will arise as a result of tide? He calls us out into deep oceans and lets us fall so we can learn to call, He lets us sink so we can learn to cling. It’s in the calling, and in the clinging that we rise above the storm to walk on deep waters. Like the man in the movie, will you sink or will you cling?
I use this as a form of encouragement for you and I to say that when life throws stuff at you that can cause you to drown, doubt, to fall and to sink, don’t just keep silent, call, cling, fight to survive.
Don’t carry your burdens alone, remember you have to be light to stay afloat and not drown. Strip them off and lay them at Jesus’ feet. Reach out to others. If you don’t want to go so low, don’t go solo!, if you don’t want to keep sinking, keep clinging, if you don’t want to keep falling, keep calling.
