Job 23:10 “but he knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.”
There are seasons in life when trials, adversity, suffering and loss come roaring in like the waves of the sea: one right after the other. As each wave hits, crashing down on you just as you are attempting to resurface and catch your breath, you find yourself wrestling just to break above the water and set your feet on the ground. Flailing, kicking, and gasping for breath, the battle to simply stay afloat becomes a battle for life or death as the swirling waters rage against you, and the tossing and turning result in a complete loss of navigational sense or direction.
What do you do in this moment: when every attempt to simply catch your breath seems thwarted as you come up gulping for air, yet suck down water instead? When the undercurrent creates clouds of sand, hindering your vision and ability to discern which way is up and down? It seems there is no way to gain your footing because solid ground eludes you though you seek to find it.
In the midst of the storm, and the tossing and turning, you may find it tempting to give in and allow the force of the raging waters to sink you completely. The fight becomes too arduous, the crashing waves too much for your feeble frame to bear, the lack of life sustaining oxygen results in your body shutting down. You have found, however, that sheer exhaustion has overcome you as you seek to stay above the surface in your own strength. What else is there to do?
I am finding it is in this place where the only remaining thing to do is to stop panicking, thrashing, and flailing, and cry out to God. Seek His help, His voice, and His counsel! Hear His voice beckoning you to hear and obey what He is telling you to do. Do you just swim for the shore? Do you just rest in the current and trust He will bring you to land, or do you simply stand up and recognize there was solid footing below you the whole time? For each of us, God has a unique answer to our unique circumstance, and He WILL give us strategies and solutions to hold and keep us safely in the midst, no matter how crazy the stormy waters rage around us.
If we can get our eyes off of the stormy waters, the waves crashing around us, and fix our eyes on Jesus, we will discover that He always makes a way, even when it seems there is no way. He is the God of the impossible, if we will only believe. Truly, He “works all things, ALL THINGS, together for good for those who LOVE Him and are called according to His purposes.”
So, wherever you find yourself today, take heart, be strong, and call out to the ONE who knows the way before you. He will make a way! And who knows, you may even find yourself like Peter, walking on the water, because when you fix your eyes on Jesus, and not your problems, the impossible can take place. He is FAITHFUL! And atlas, once you find yourself safely on shore, your feet planted back on solid ground, may it be said of you, after victoriously withstanding the tempestuous trials where He tested you, that you came forth as gold!
“Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I have sunk into the miry depths, where there is no footing; I have drifted into deep waters, where the flood engulfs me…but as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me. Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me. Hide not your face from your servant, for I am in distress; make haste to answer me… I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving…the humble will see their God at work and be glad. Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged…. For the LORD hears the cries of the needy… “(Psalms 69:1-33 condensed)
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33