Week 4: The Worried

Fun fact, I love being on the water.

There is just something about fresh air and open skies that provides me with a sense of comfort and calmness. This weekend as I made my way back home to New England to visit family, I was able to spend the day on the ocean with my Dad and brother. Riding on top of the waves, I felt confident and carefree, embracing the first day of my much-needed vacation. Sunshine, sea breeze, and ocean views for days, I said goodbye to my worries and weariness. As my Dad decelerated the boat’s speed, allowing the ocean to carry us along with its current, we began to feel the waves beneath us.

Left to right and back again, the sudden repetition of the boat’s instability startled me as I became suddenly nauseous. This state of internal imbalance quickly disrupted my calm. I tried breathing deep and focused on the little bit of shoreline still visible. As we continued to be tossed by the dancing waves, I was no longer able to tolerate the turbulence and quickly turned to my Dad, asking him to return us to the more smooth and steady-state.

What a powerful parallel I found in this experience.

Is it not true that while sailing smoothly on the waters of life, we tend to neglect our need for divine dependency? For what if the waves of worry and uncertainty are meant to lead us deeper into spiritual intimacy?

C. Spurgeon put it this way: "adversity prompts prayer." This is where we find the worried soul’s story in Psalm 107:23-32. Discouraged by the storms and lacking courage, they learned to look to the Lord for the peace that both stills the seas and human souls.

For what if God’s answers were not found

in simply getting somewhere faster,

But rather, in teaching me how to truly trust my master.

The Soul at Sea

It is here, tossed to and fro by the reality of life's uncertainties, we learn that safety is found in God’s sovereignty and courage is cultivated in claiming Christ's victory.

The psalmist recounts this story of the soul at sea in verses 23-32, saying,

“Some went down to the sea in ships,

doing business on the great waters;

they saw the deeds of the Lord,

his wondrous works in the deep.

For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,

which lifted the waves of the sea.

They mounted up to heaven;

they went down to the depths;

their courage melted away in their evil plight;

they reeled and staggered like drunken men

and were at their wits' end.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,

and he brought them to their desired haven.

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of man!

Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,

and praise him in the assembly of the elders.”

In the open verses of this story, we see how, spiritually speaking, the soul that sails along the sea of success and earthly securities, places its safety in what is temporary. For in these moments of prosperity, I can find it is so easy to neglect the One who died for me. And in chasing after earthly priorities, we can drift away from faith in God’s ultimate sovereignty.

What if in His grace he allows me not to

see what is just a few steps in front of me?

What if He is protecting me in all this uncertainty,

by not giving me what would surely be the death of me.

Oh, how worries have a way of waking us up! We read that in the sudden turn of life’s winds,

“their courage melted away in their evil plight;

they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits' end” (verses 26-27).

Do you find yourself in the uncharted waters of life’s losses my friend?

For many of us, this season of life looks nothing like we planned yet I am learning that, anything that tests my faith is meant to produce spiritual maturity (James 1 ). For it is here, in the waves of worry, overcome with discouragement and doubt, we are prompted towards honest prayers. Unable to see beyond what the world has taught us to fear, we come to a place of crisis, where we must choose to place our faith upon the foundation that cannot be shaken or sink beneath the weight of our worries.

This space between is not changing me,

No, it is completely remaking me into the woman,

God has created me to be.

Crisis Call

We learn that those who called on the Lord in their crisis were rescued and restored. In verses 28-30, we read,

“Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,

and he brought them to their desired haven.”

Spurgeon shares a profound perspective on this passage saying,

“Thank God for the griefs that make us pray, for the troubles that drive us to the mercy-seat.”

If it was not for the challenges and plot twists in my story that have prompted me to prayer and petition, I do not know how else I would have come to trust and treasure the powerful presence of my Heavenly Father.

In the face of uncertainty, His is my steady.

In the chaos, He is my calm.

In light of sudden losses, He is my greatest gain.

Through these verses, we are given a picture of God’s gracious nature and faithful guidance despite the soul’s tendency to forget in His safety. For in His steadfast love, He is quick to hear those who call out to Him and mighty to provide us with His presence.

Psalm 91:14-16 depicts God’s goodness towards us saying,

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;

I will protect him because he knows my name.

When he calls to me, I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble;

I will rescue him and honor him.

With a long life, I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

With this truth, let us learn to call on Him, the One who silences the seas and strengthens the soul to sail on. Our courage and calmness is and will ever be found in claiming the victory that Christ won for us on the cross.

What is the worry you are now facing my friend? What is weighing heavily on your soul today?

May we name it, acknowledge it, and also praise God for it by responding to it with the same song that the psalmist sang! For in the winds and deep waters, in uncertainty and storms, Christ comes walking out to us saying, "Take Courage, it is I, Do not be afraid”.

Whether in stormy seas or stormy seas, we are promised that whatever our journey may hold, Christ will anchor and God’s love will guide us home.