The Wind Was Against Them
I love how, in the story of Jesus walking on water, Scripture names the disciples’ struggle so plainly: “for the wind was against them.” They were terrified. They were afraid. They were in doubt. And the wind was against them.
I love that, because wind is a natural force—
not of their own making.
For people like me, it’s easy to take on guilt and shame for our mistakes and carry them like a weight. For people like me, it’s even easier to take on guilt and shame simply for existing, even when we’ve done nothing wrong. We wake up feeling guilty, and before long we find something to attach it to. We don’t have to look very hard.
But the wind that’s against us is still a natural force.
Most everything that pushes against us is a natural force—our own flesh, our own pride, our own lusts, our own sin. Natural.
And the natural is nothing to be ashamed of.
But it is something to stand firm against.
It blows relentlessly.
It devours.
It pushes us further out to sea.
And if we spend too much time wallowing in the notion that the wind is somehow our own fault—our own unworthiness, our unique shortcomings or failures—we risk making it harder to hear the precious words of Christ when He breaks through the natural, stepping across a body of water to find us, and gently calls,
“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
The truth is Christ has always been there.
The truth is Christ has never been more than an outstretched hand away.
The truth is Christ is present even in the wind, even in the natural—beckoning us to step out of the boat as He proves He is Lord over both the natural and the supernatural.
And when we do—
when we step out of the boat, eyes fixed on Christ—even if we sink, may we not fear the natural that overtakes us.
May we not fear our lack of faith or the poor decisions born of ignorance and weakness.
May we be unafraid to cry from our depths perhaps the shortest and most unsophisticated prayer in all of Scripture:
“Lord, save me!”
—knowing Christ is here and now.
May we continue to lift our eyes to Christ who, with the tenderness of a Good Shepherd consoling His lost sheep, asks,
“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Why indeed.
Why have we ever doubted those words: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid”?
Why have we ever doubted we were alone in the wind?
Why have we ever doubted we were alone in our sin?
Why have we ever doubted we were alone in our fragility and weakness?
Christ has never not been part of our journey—even in the darkest times.
Christ has never not been part of our story—even when the wind has carried us so far from shore we no longer know which direction is which.
Christ has never not been an arm’s-length away.
O you of little faith—do not be dismayed by your waywardness.
Do not be dismayed by your lostness.
It’s only natural.
Fix your eyes on the One who walks on water, commanding and taming the natural.
Fix your eyes on the One who is Lord of the supernatural.
“Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
Christ is here.
We are in very good hands.