Rise Above the Waves

I absolutely love water. I love it when it rains, as long as I’m not out driving in it. I love the type of rain where I’m at home and able to gaze calmly out of my window and listen to it. I’m the same with the ocean. I don’t know how to swim well, but I love visiting the ocean simply for the up close and personal viewing experience of those powerful waves. Many a photographer has snapped photos of the beautiful imagery of the deep blue. How can you not? It’s so captivating! People often vacation to islands and snap beach pics for the same reason. It’s hard not to be wowed by the beauty of God’s creation. 

As beautiful as it is, it’s equally powerful. Think of how many natural disasters have occurred involving water. Tumultuous storms, droughts, landslides, hurricanes, and tsunamis. You name it. You notice that it is stunningly beautiful as you gaze at an ocean and it’s easy to forget just how powerful it truly is. Yet, you’ve experienced it if you stepped into an ocean before. Even in the shallowest portion of those waters, you experience the power of the waves. 

In many ways, water reminds me of an emotion that behaves in a similar manner. Anxiety. Sometimes, it seems almost easy to manage and navigate, but in other instances it is completely out of control to the point of making one feel overwhelmed in one fell swoop.

I recently experienced this at work. I can’t claim to regularly take note of feelings of pressure or anxiousness. Yet, during this experience, I noted how it really did seem like me and my team just could not pull ahead. We’d tackle one thing on the to-do list only for about fifty others to surface. Moments like that are frustration because you don’t have time to bask in the sense of accomplishment that comes with something having gone well. 

As I thought more about that, it made me realize how I’ve had similar moments in my faith experience. It seemed like my successes were drowned out by all the things that didn’t look like they were improving. No matter how fervently I prayed and believed! It was like things just seemed stagnant. 

At work, during those moments of intensity, I took a moment and told myself that I refused to give in to the feeling of being overwhelmed. I was going to tackle one task at a time one day at a time. It’s funny because that mental model is something that my neurologist once told me. Control the controllable. If I’ve reached a point where it feels like my last thread is about to break, then I need to tap out of me and tap into Jesus. Even with my faith, I can not give in to feelings of being overwhelmed. How can I when God promises us in the scriptures that he will take care of us if we cast our cares on him? If I’m feeling overwhelmed, then I need to cast a few more of those cares toward Jesus and trust that he’ll take care of it and me better than I can. 

I always hold on to a very simple example. Many of us have seen a rubik's cube before. If I’m struggling to figure this thing out and extend it to someone else to help me out, how can they solve it if I don’t let go of it? It’s as simple as that. Sometimes we have to practice the art of loosening our grip on some things that we are determined to solve. Even in our every day lives, it’s okay to ask for help. We should definitely do the same in our spiritual walk. So practice letting go of a few more cares this week and trust God to work them out as only he can.  

Stay Sunny!

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