I was twelve when my auntie nearly drowned. One minute, we were side by side lying on inflated tubes, bobbing gently above the calm waters, the seashore just a few feet away. The next minute, I saw her fall out, arms flailing, then quickly disappearing beneath the waters. Her tube had drifted farther out. I called out to shore and soon the rescue efforts started. It was a long thirty minutes.
My mother promptly sent me to summer swim school. By then I was petrified of the water, any water that was more than waist deep. I learned to swim and I passed the tests. But I do not love swimming.
-/-
A new job. A new calling. A new home. A new song. Those were the staccato thoughts that surprised me one July morning last year. Wow, I am not sure that I am prepared for this.
You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand*
July. I was faced with career and life decisions. Stay home or leave. I like to grow deep roots wherever I go. Do I have to uproot myself again? I don’t relish the thought.
Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand
Will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You’ve never failed and You won’t start now
But I have uprooted myself before. I have learned to go to the edge of my comfort zone. Moved countries. Changed jobs. Weathered loss. Defeated disappointments. But I have never done it on my own. God’s everlasting arms underneath me brought me to safety when I was out of my depth.
So I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine
I look back at the girl who was scared of swimming. Here I am. I have stepped out again into a new venture.
I imagined the challenges and thought, why not?
I know there may be a few turns on the road ahead, but I am not only armed with my intellect and my natural grit.
I depend on and trust the all-knowing, all-seeing, ever-loving God who has called me to this place and for times as these. He knows the end of this story. And at the end there is victory. He has never failed me.
Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior.
How about you? Are you hearing the call for change? Is your fear of the unknown stopping you from enjoying new challenges?
Can I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone? Come and take the journey of faith. Go, not because you can figure out every step. Go, because you can depend on someone who is beyond time.
Go! It is a more exciting journey to walk with faith.
* Lyrics of Oceans (Where Feet May Fail), Hillsong United. 2013
Joyce Harkness 