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My mother raised me to love Jesus. As a child she would take me to church and Sunday school. She would sing songs to me like, “This Little Light of Mine” and “Jesus Loves Me.” My cup was filled with faith, and I was happy.
As I grew older, I became distracted by life always thinking I knew better than others. My pride was bigger than my beliefs. I found my cup had grown to match my years, but the level of my faith remained the same. I was lost and confused.
When Pastor Jim said I was to come up here today and tell my story, I didn’t know where to start or what to say. I was scared because my journey from my lost-and- confused years to here-and-now was a bumpy ride.
Then I looked up at a picture on my living room wall. It was a painting my mother had given me a month or so ago of Jesus walking on the water from the account in the Book of Matthew. Jesus was reaching down to save a sinking Peter. Peter was sinking because he changed his focus from Jesus to the storms surrounding him. For many years, I had storms. Unlike Peter though, I hid from those storms in the safety of the boat not trusting in my Savior to keep me from sinking if I stepped onto the water. The waves crashed down on me, and the storms raged all around; but I would just cling to the boat with my eyes closed to Jesus Who was reaching for me. There were times I would cry out to Him, but not have the faith to trust Him. I lived my life hiding in that boat, (seeing all the horrors of the storms) while being blind to the kindness of my Lord.
Then last year, something precious fell overboard. It was my marriage. I still don’t know what happened next--if I jumped in, fell in, or maybe God tipped the boat. All I knew was that I was out of the boat and didn’t know how to swim. I saw my marriage floating away, and then I saw Jesus still there waiting for me with open arms after all this time. I realized then I had to be saved before I could save any other part of my life. Then a neat thing happened. I felt the hands of my friends, my family, and the hands of the Body of this church, start to lift me up and rescue me from drowning, until the bottoms of my feet touched the surface of the sea. I stepped forward a lost man, and Jesus reached out His hand and grabbed hold of mine, and I was saved. Then a hand wrapped around my other hand. It was Jessica’s, my wife’s, hand. We returned to the boat together, no longer focused on the storms, but focused on our faith in Jesus Christ.
So my story continues on today with Matthew 14:32, “And when they got into the boat the wind ceased and those in the boat worshipped him saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Amen.
Richard
March 29, 2009
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