Matthew 14:29-31

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

³¹Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

Swimming By Faith

I will never forget as a child growing up living near the coast. We lived near the Inter-coaster waterway where my brother and I would often take our Jon boat onto the water to fish, and enjoy paddling down the connecting creeks. I would go with my friends and their dad, and wade from sandbars into chest deep water, to pull a net to catch shrimp. Anytime on the water I always felt safe because I was wearing my life vest. I knew that I did not need to worry if the water was deep, nor from the tidal currents which were strong and swift. I felt confident and had no reason to be afraid. On many occasions with my life vest fastened tight and secure, I would jump out of the boat, or drift into deeper water knowing I would safely stay afloat. My life vest was my very own personal lifeguard.

My family would take trips to the beach. I feared the ocean with it’s sharp currents, riptides and under toes. There, I was without my life vest where waves might suddenly consume my height placing me in a situation, for which I was unprepared. I feared that I might have to swim on my own, without the security of my life vest. You see, up until the age of 16, I did not know how to swim. Even the thought of entering deep water without a life vest would consume me with an overwhelming and unspeakable fear.

At age 16, my mother enrolled me for swimming lessons with an instructor who lived in our neighborhood. I was excited that I was actually going to learn to swim. We practiced in the shallow end of the pool where I went through all the necessary motions in order to stay afloat. I learned how to move my arms and legs in an effort to work together, and not against each another to propel myself from one end of the pool to the other. After much training and confidence building, the time came to jump into the deep end of the pool. I stood at the edge with the instructor treading in the water close by, assuring me that He is there for me and not to be afraid. I trusted my instructor and had faith in his abilities. There was an invisible tether between he and I. He was now my live vest. As I stared at the depth of the water, I felt my confidence rapidly turning into fear. I wanted to run away from what felt like certain fate. I knew the bottom was 12 long feet down and as soon as I jumped in, the depth would quickly consume me. I felt that before I could make it to safety or receive help, I would drown. Even with the instructor right before me, I could not find my confidence. Even through all I had learned to remain afloat, I was too afraid to jump.

After what seemed like hours, I found courage, and placing all my faith and trust in my instructor to help me if necessary, I jumped. I felt myself plunging into the water and watched the surface quickly rise high above my head. I watched upwards as I slowly rose from the bottom. I broke the surface with a wide smile on my face, hearing the cheering from my instructor, and a sense of joy filled my heart. The fear was gone. I could swim!

How many of us go through life wearing a spiritual life vest. As Christians, we prepare our heart and mind through scripture, accept the Lord as our personal savior, and place our faith and trust in Him. With all we have learned and understand, are we confident in our faith to take that jump into the deeper water, solely relying on the invisible tether, which connect us to Him? In times of trouble or distress, it may seem safer to depend on our life vest in an effort to remain afloat. To take it off and throw it aside may almost seem unthinkable. This would mean to relinquish all control we think we have, and to place our trust and faith completely in Him. We may feel that if He desires, He might help when He feels it necessary, then again, maybe not. We need and want tangible assurance. We feel the need to be in control within a situation. Strive to achieve the outcome of our desire. By relinquishing control to Him, all matters will have the outcome as He intends. The outcome might appear as miraculous, or it may not be what we expected, or even what we desired. We may have our wool sheered from our body and feel naked, defiled, and that all seems lost. We may feel that if He’s in control, why would He allow such a thing to happen to us, His sheep. After all, He is our Shepard and we trust in Him to protect His flock. What we fail to remember is that He is always in control.

He knows our wool will grow back, and even fuller and richer than before, if our trust and faith are in Him. With faith, the more we experience His control over matters in our life, the stronger our faith becomes. The invisible tether connecting us to Him becomes more visible and stronger with each time we find ourselves, swimming by faith.

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