I promise this isn't a lame surf analogy. Just hear me out....
This week, I've been thinking a lot about what is eternal and what is not. Why do we often care so much about the little things we do? Why get stressed about some of this stuff? In DC, we are often surrounded - or bombarded really - by the obsession of impression management. People scurrying about to do the best they can to impress, wanting everyone to think highly of them, pouring over their social media accounts to post (or not post) the right opinion, or photo, about something, spending hours over the perfect new chic outfit, prizing their own opinion, scanning for opportunities to insert their intellectual prowess to prove their value, constant name dropping and boasting of a plentiful roll-a-dex to show the value of being 'in-the-know'. I'm certain there isn't a person within the DC beltway that hasn't been subject to this, or hasn't fallen victim to it themselves. But why? Who are we actually serving when we do these things?
Recently, I've been reading "Spiritual Depression" by Martin Lloyd-Jones, and no - I'm not depressed. It is an incredible read. If you pick it up, and you decide to read only one chapter, I direct to the chapter Looking At The Waves. (Now, if you love surfing, like me, undoubtedly this will get your attention!) The story is about Matthew 14:22-31, NIV:
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. The Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
In this, Peter took his sight off of Jesus, and he quickly came into deep trouble. Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and began looking at his circumstances - he saw the wind, and undoubtedly, he saw the tumultuous waves around him. He took his focus off of what IS eternal, and he began to sink. As a result, fear gripped him - a fear he didn't have before, while he was looking at Jesus and stepping out onto the waves. Jesus was what Peter saw, his gaze above the waves and looking at His savior.
What is also beautiful as Martin Lloyd-Jones writes in the chapter:
"We see Him, Himself, walking upon the waves, though they were stormy and turbulent, and we see Him likewise enabling His servant, the apostle, to do the same."
The Lord has given us the ability to survive the storm, to survive the turbulent waves. We need only keep our eyes above the waves and on Him. When we began to stare at the circumstances around us, the trials we may have, the people we strive to impress, the boyfriend/girlfriend we want, the high opinions of others, the inadequate ways we view ourselves, our raging and jagged pride, even the unfolding of horrific events around us occurring in the world - we take our eyes off of Jesus. We begin to fret, to toil, to peddle, to worry, to fear, to grow angry, to obsess about worldly things, to manage our image, to grow anxious, to get restless, to take control instead of trusting God - and the results are that we sink, we become overwhelmed just as Peter did.
"...we ourselves produce our own doubts....[Peter] produced his own doubts by looking at the waves...We often lead ourselves into depression, we lead ourselves into doubts by dabbling with certain things which should be avoided," Martin Lloyd-Jones goes on to say in the chapter.
I need this reminder daily, maybe even hourly. As we go about our day, we are constantly tempted to look down around us; to take our gaze off of Jesus and onto ourselves, or onto our circumstances or both. This week, I found an old quote on a Christian blog I had read, it said this:
"God has not commanded you to be admired or esteemed. He has never bidden you defend your character. He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood (about yourself), which Satan's or God's servants may start to peddle, or to track down every rumor that threatens your reputation. If you do these things, you will do nothing else; you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord." - Author Unknown
As I read that, I feel relief wash over me. A sting of conviction and admission that I have often been the one to jump head first into the trap of impression management before. But there is the relief that to serve the Lord, I must not look down at the trap - I must keep my eyes above the waves, on Him. A relief that comes with resting in His sovereignty, trust God wholeheartedly with everything - my life, my work, my reputation, my family, my relationships, my basic needs, my everything. He is worthy. Anything less would be to dethrone Him as the King over my life. No one or no thing is worthy of sitting upon the throne of our lives except Jesus.
Martin Lloyd-Jones goes on to write, "That was Peter's fatal error; he looked away from Him. It is 'the fight of faith', you are walking on turbulent waves and the only way to keep walking is to keep looking at Him."
So as we face the news of tragedy in Paris, we face the storms of our lives each day, we face the temptation to serve ourselves over Jesus in our own pride and impression management, we face illnesses, we face a host of fears, and any kind of turbulent waves - we can have confidence in keeping our eyes above the waves. We will not fall with Him as our constant. We can be certain, as Jesus said to take courage and not be afraid, we do not need to doubt - our eyes can stay fixed on Him. We can learn so much from Peter. We can walk through any storm with our focus on Jesus.
Lord, let us serve you, and not ourselves. Let us look only to you, and not to any distractions around us. Let us fix our gaze on what is eternal, what is lasting, and what we carry with us from earth into eternity. Let us look above the waves, at you, our only true Savior.
This week, I've been thinking a lot about what is eternal and what is not. Why do we often care so much about the little things we do? Why get stressed about some of this stuff? In DC, we are often surrounded - or bombarded really - by the obsession of impression management. People scurrying about to do the best they can to impress, wanting everyone to think highly of them, pouring over their social media accounts to post (or not post) the right opinion, or photo, about something, spending hours over the perfect new chic outfit, prizing their own opinion, scanning for opportunities to insert their intellectual prowess to prove their value, constant name dropping and boasting of a plentiful roll-a-dex to show the value of being 'in-the-know'. I'm certain there isn't a person within the DC beltway that hasn't been subject to this, or hasn't fallen victim to it themselves. But why? Who are we actually serving when we do these things?
Recently, I've been reading "Spiritual Depression" by Martin Lloyd-Jones, and no - I'm not depressed. It is an incredible read. If you pick it up, and you decide to read only one chapter, I direct to the chapter Looking At The Waves. (Now, if you love surfing, like me, undoubtedly this will get your attention!) The story is about Matthew 14:22-31, NIV:
Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. The Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"
In this, Peter took his sight off of Jesus, and he quickly came into deep trouble. Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and began looking at his circumstances - he saw the wind, and undoubtedly, he saw the tumultuous waves around him. He took his focus off of what IS eternal, and he began to sink. As a result, fear gripped him - a fear he didn't have before, while he was looking at Jesus and stepping out onto the waves. Jesus was what Peter saw, his gaze above the waves and looking at His savior.
What is also beautiful as Martin Lloyd-Jones writes in the chapter:
"We see Him, Himself, walking upon the waves, though they were stormy and turbulent, and we see Him likewise enabling His servant, the apostle, to do the same."
The Lord has given us the ability to survive the storm, to survive the turbulent waves. We need only keep our eyes above the waves and on Him. When we began to stare at the circumstances around us, the trials we may have, the people we strive to impress, the boyfriend/girlfriend we want, the high opinions of others, the inadequate ways we view ourselves, our raging and jagged pride, even the unfolding of horrific events around us occurring in the world - we take our eyes off of Jesus. We begin to fret, to toil, to peddle, to worry, to fear, to grow angry, to obsess about worldly things, to manage our image, to grow anxious, to get restless, to take control instead of trusting God - and the results are that we sink, we become overwhelmed just as Peter did.
"...we ourselves produce our own doubts....[Peter] produced his own doubts by looking at the waves...We often lead ourselves into depression, we lead ourselves into doubts by dabbling with certain things which should be avoided," Martin Lloyd-Jones goes on to say in the chapter.
I need this reminder daily, maybe even hourly. As we go about our day, we are constantly tempted to look down around us; to take our gaze off of Jesus and onto ourselves, or onto our circumstances or both. This week, I found an old quote on a Christian blog I had read, it said this:
"God has not commanded you to be admired or esteemed. He has never bidden you defend your character. He has not set you at work to contradict falsehood (about yourself), which Satan's or God's servants may start to peddle, or to track down every rumor that threatens your reputation. If you do these things, you will do nothing else; you will be at work for yourself and not for the Lord." - Author Unknown
As I read that, I feel relief wash over me. A sting of conviction and admission that I have often been the one to jump head first into the trap of impression management before. But there is the relief that to serve the Lord, I must not look down at the trap - I must keep my eyes above the waves, on Him. A relief that comes with resting in His sovereignty, trust God wholeheartedly with everything - my life, my work, my reputation, my family, my relationships, my basic needs, my everything. He is worthy. Anything less would be to dethrone Him as the King over my life. No one or no thing is worthy of sitting upon the throne of our lives except Jesus.
Martin Lloyd-Jones goes on to write, "That was Peter's fatal error; he looked away from Him. It is 'the fight of faith', you are walking on turbulent waves and the only way to keep walking is to keep looking at Him."
So as we face the news of tragedy in Paris, we face the storms of our lives each day, we face the temptation to serve ourselves over Jesus in our own pride and impression management, we face illnesses, we face a host of fears, and any kind of turbulent waves - we can have confidence in keeping our eyes above the waves. We will not fall with Him as our constant. We can be certain, as Jesus said to take courage and not be afraid, we do not need to doubt - our eyes can stay fixed on Him. We can learn so much from Peter. We can walk through any storm with our focus on Jesus.
Lord, let us serve you, and not ourselves. Let us look only to you, and not to any distractions around us. Let us fix our gaze on what is eternal, what is lasting, and what we carry with us from earth into eternity. Let us look above the waves, at you, our only true Savior.
How are you doing? No posts since November. I hope all is well.
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