Sinking, But Holding On

This past week our family traveled back to IL to move the rest of our stuff to our new home in TN. On Tuesday, as we prepared to leave, we assumed it would be a smooth trip, tying up all the loose ends, and moving us ahead to be able to fully focus on our new ministry. As we left on Wednesday afternoon things quickly took a different turn. The trailer we hoped to attach to our van couldn't be rented due to faulty electronics. Everything didn't fit into our moving truck, causing us to have to rent another vehicle. On top of that, our prospective buyer, who was supposed to move in on Saturday, decided to delay his move because of a delayed appraisal and higher than expected costs to repair some items that popped up on our home inspection.

These are just a few of the discouraging things that happened during our brief time in IL. Granted, we did have some great help loading our truck from some wonderful friends from our old church. We got to spend a lot of time together as a family. But the good seemed tainted by the bad... at least our interpretation of what was bad.

As I was relating this to one of our college students we got to hang out with on Friday night I said that I was trying to figure out why God was doing all this? What was the purpose behind all these last minute hiccups and disappointments? I confessed that my faith was lacking and I was really struggling with taking my head knowledge of God's sovereignty and transferring it to heart belief. What she responded with really stuck with me. She said, "It's a good thing we don't need to figure out why God is doing all this." That was exactly what I needed to hear.

As Christians, we can just live our life in obedience and trust God to plan the details. I didn't need to know why our trailer didn't work out or why estimates on repairs were coming back so high. I just needed to trust that God knows why and He is in control.

Our pastor on Sunday prayed something similar in his prayer. He asked God to help us as we may feel He is out to get us or not bring good to our lives. He ended his prayer quoting the chorus of the song we had just sung, God Moves: "When tears are great, and comforts few, we hope in mercies ever new. We trust in You."

This whole situation reminds me of Peter's successful attempt to walk on water. Many of you might see it as a failed attempt. And yes, if you look at Peter on his own, it was a failure. But the truth of the story is that Peter was never alone. He was never in danger of sinking beneath those waves because Christ was with Him. When Peter's eyes were fixed on Christ, we walked steadily forward. When his eyes became distracted by the watery ordeal around him, Christ caught him by the hand and enabled him to continue staying afloat. Peter's perspective may have changed, but his status as being under the care of Christ did not.

We must remember that Christ is always with us. When our eyes are fixed on Him we will walk steadily. When we become distracted, He remains faithful and holds us through every trial. I will rest on Him as our life continues to unfold.