Look at Christ, not the waves

Matthew 14:22 – 33 – 22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

With the latest events going on around the world with the Coronavirus, and the 5G networks getting installed at a record pace, the investigations going on in the USA regarding Micheal Flynn and lots, lots more…it’s easy to really get caught in the storm.
Recently, with this virus, which the World Health Organization has dubbed a “global pandemic”, many have been in panic mode. They have recommended locking down the economy, and shutting down any business they don’t deem essential. So, anyone working in bars, billiard halls, sports venues, clothing stores, their stores are shut down. The ones that are still deemed essential, are working restricted hours, and have extra staff to coordinate and keep clients from gathering within 6 feet of each other.
Call centers / contact centers have implemented that most people are working from home. On this side, my wife works in the banking industry, she’s in a contact center, works from home, but still has an income. I work in the transportation industry. The truck dealership I work in fixes big trucks…it has slowed down, but not stopped, so God has graciously dealt with my family, in keeping our income going.

However, all this said, we are some of the lucky ones. Many people I know, that work for car dealerships, RV and camper dealerships, stores in the local mall, my brother owns a spray foam business, my brother in law has apartments (couldn’t collect rent for 2 months, though I think the mortgage was still due), my other brother in law, on EI as well, and had to defer payments and the list, goes on, and on and on…
People are afraid of getting sick, some have compromised immune systems, so they are not just afraid of getting sick, but if they get sick, it could be fatal. The government is recommending people wear masks, gloves and wash their hands all the time.
People that are struggling with addiction, this is a huge trigger to push them to those addictions. Whether drugs, alcohol, smoking, self harm, spending (online is still open), usually anxiety is a huge trigger for addictions. This situation is not helping.

Anyone that is already struggling with depression, is going to have a hard time getting out of it with this pandemic and panic. Anyone that was contemplating suicide for whatever reason, I pray they read this and get some comfort (more at the end of this little “sermon”).
People’s finances are no doubt on shaky ground, more than ever. The government claims to want to help, but the money they are offering is not enough to cover the bills for most families I know.

The long and short of it is, this is not a good time for many, many people. There are lots of storms going on around us.
And I was getting caught up in a lot of it. Where did the virus really originate from, how was it released, what’s the treatment…all these questions. Then with the USA, Trump leading investigations with other things, human trafficking, arrests..I was getting so caught up in everything I gave myself anxiety for almost 3 weeks with some of the things I have seen, that I really wish I hadn’t seen. Bad, bad and deep, deep stuff. Mandatory vaccines (which I’m not on board with)
On top of all that, I was struggling deep in my own sins. I am not immune to anxiety, not even close. So I was starting to doubt my salvation in Christ. With everything going on, it was a huge storm.
So, to get some encouragement, I called 3 Christian brothers, 1 Christian sister, and I emailed one brother. They all gave me different advice, but everyone of them advised me to come to the cross.

The first conversation was that if it took a pandemic to scare me in my sin…that’s not a good thing, you should have had remorse much before this. I have to admit, I have had remorse all the time, but I never had the strength to get out of it.
The second one, told me some of us will drop some sins at the moment of salvation. Other sins, we might struggle with for the rest of our human lives. And this, though not really what I wanted to hear, gave me some comfort that I’m not the only one struggling with sin. Doesn’t give it an excuse, but I’m not alone.
The third one advised that confessing my recent sins and repenting from them is a good indication of salvation as well. If someone wasn’t saved, they probably wouldn’t cry out to Christ for forgiveness.

The email, essentially pointed that if I am concerned about my sin, and confessed it to 4 Christians, is a very good indication of my salvation. And that God can use the pandemic to wake up non-believers to bring them to Christ, and wake up believers to bring them back to Christ. This pandemic will be used for God’s glory, one way or another.

And the most encouraging conversation I had was with a sister. She gave me the example in the verses above.
When we focus on Christ, whether life is smooth or not, we seem to be pulling through. Just like Peter, walking on the water, no matter the waves, when he was focusing on Christ, he wasn’t sinking. Then all of a sudden, he was looking away from Christ and looking at the height of the waves around him. I’m suspecting he was a good distance from the boat that he couldn’t turn around. And my guess is, due to the waves, he couldn’t see Christ, partially due to the height of the waves, and because he was sinking. Then when he realized there was no way out, he cried out “Lord save me” and immediately, Jesus reached out and took his hand to rescue him.

She told me she was digging as I was, and getting anxious as well, then it hit her like this text, “Jesus, there is nothing that happens without your permission, Jesus, you’ve got this. I’m done stressing, whether the vaccine, the virus or the rest of it. Jesus, I’m leaving it in your hands”
All this to say, yes, there is a virus. Yes, there are a lot of things in this world that are very, very evil. There are many things going on around the world right now that would give us a true fear of man. And it’s so easy to get caught up in all of it.
The ONLY refuge to all of this, was crucified on a cross years ago, and resurrected 3 days later. I’m talking about Christ. He died on the cross so that we that believe in his death and resurrection, have eternal life.

Once saved, it doesn’t take away the pains of this world and all the stress, but it does give us peace that we have hope. If you don’t believe in anything, and when you die there is nothing else, there isn’t much hope for anything, especially in this climate of panic.
But those who are Christians, we have hope in Christ, and as my sister said, “Jesus has got this”.