YES to God's invitation.

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-23, Colossians 1:15-20, Proverbs 31:25

I was reading through an old journal the other night. Sometimes it’s so sweet to look back through all the prayers, thoughts and feelings from a past season of life and reflect on all that Jesus has done since then. One of my prayer requests from the spring of 2021 (my second year of college) was this: "Lay heavy on my heart where you want me to go next year: Campus Ministry intern, track team, both? At this point, it doesn’t seem like either is wrong. I am leaning toward being a CM intern… if this is not where you want me, put it heavy on my heart."

Up until this point, I had dreams of working in vocational ministry, but it was always an unrealistic dream that felt far away, unreachable, “too good to be true…”. In the spring of 2021, I had no idea where God was taking me, but I knew that all I wanted was to surrender my life to Him. I didn’t know what my decisions were going to lead to, but I knew I wanted God to be the author of my life.

So spoiler, I quit track, I became an intern for Campus Ministry, dropped out of the graduate program I was enrolled in, and God led me right into a two-year residency with Campus Ministry at GVSU. After many days full of prayer and discerning, my “unrealistic dream” has become my reality. I don’t share this to say that I made the right decision, or to give the false idea that all of our dreams will always come to fruition (because that just wouldn't be true). I share this because I have experienced the excitement and adventure that comes when we step out into the unknown in courage and faith, and when we ask God to make His will our desires.

Matthew 14:22-33 tells a story that I can always relate back to during any season of life. In this story, the disciples are out on this boat and it’s storming. In the distance, they begin to see a figure walking toward them, and they become afraid until Jesus says, “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Peter pipes up and says, “Lord, if it’s you… command me to come to you on the water.” So Jesus extends the invitation for Peter to come out on to the water. Peter steps out of the boat and starts to walk on the water toward Jesus. This is the first part that really gets me. What a sight to see, Jesus and Peter both walking on water! I think sometimes when reading the Bible, we read stories like this for the 100th time with numb minds, and we forget how insane this is!

Peter is walking on the water, he’s made a decision to say “yes” to Jesus’ invitation, and then he begins to doubt. When we feel this way, we have many thoughts that take over.

Can I really do this?

I have no idea what's going to happen, maybe I should get back in the boat.

Do I really trust that Jesus will take care of me?

I’m so broken. Is Jesus really that powerful?

Do I really believe this is possible? Isn't this too good to be true?

These waves seem too big. I think they are going to knock me over.

What happens after this?

But, Jesus.

"Immediately, Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?' When they got in the boat, the wind ceased. Then those in the boat worshiped Him and said, 'Truly you are the Son of God.'" (v. 31-33)

I feel like I’m Peter all the time. In this story, Peter is walking on water, right in front of Jesus, yet the waves and wind still feel like they are too big. The situation at hand feels too powerful, the doubt seems to begin to take us captive because we take our eyes off Jesus and become consumed with our own weaknesses and the task at hand (like, no, I can’t walk on water by myself, and neither can you).

I definitely can’t walk on water by myself. You and I definitely can’t do what we’re invited to do by ourselves, so we resort to doubt and fear when the next thing seems too big, too hard or too impossible. We look inward at ourselves, and we forget to keep our eyes locked on Jesus, in all of His glory and power. We become forgetful of how powerful Jesus is, and fear is just a side-effect and symptom of this loss of sight. One of my absolute favorite passages of the Bible is Colossians 1:15-20 (yes, go read it.) All things have been created by Jesus and for Jesus, He is before all things, He holds all things together, He is the beginning and Savior of the world through His blood shed on the cross.

Rooting our confidence in the true power of Jesus will make us laugh in the face of the fear. It is in the moments of weakness and humility that we learn to fully surrender and trust in Jesus. Proverbs 31:25 says that, “Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come.” When we are rooted in Christ, we will laugh at the time to come.

I have a mentor in my life named Dave. He is the best storyteller, always knows how to make people laugh and keep a conversation random and interesting, and he has a heart after Jesus. He has story after story about what God has done in his life and all of the adventures he’s gone on. He has traveled the world, preached for many different crowds of people, ran a summer Bible camp, was a fisherman in Alaska, and the list goes on. He now spends his time loving and teaching college students at Campus Ministry at GVSU. More than once, I’ve asked Dave “how have you done all these things? How did all of these opportunities come to you?” He’s always told me how simple it is: God invites you into something, and you just say yes. The little things and the big things alike. The every day opportunities and the once in a lifetime opportunities. God invites us to walk out on the water, and we keep our eyes fixed on Him as we step out.

Maybe for you in this season, it’s a dream you have that seems too big, an invitation that God is extending to you that terrifies you, a list of responsibilities that feels like too much, a really hard semester in school or an overwhelming situation that you didn’t even choose to deal with. The swells and waves are big, and it’s tempting to look at the wave and your own reflection in the water rather than Jesus who is standing right in front of you, offering His hand as an anchor. When we surrender and trust in Jesus, we will begin to dance! When we remember the glory and power of Jesus, how could we doubt?