Even Through the Raging Sea

"There's a raging sea right in front of me, wants to pull me in, bring me to my knees. So let the waters rise if You want them to, I will follow You, I will follow You." {Click to listen}

When I first heard this song ("Let the Waters Rise" by Mikeschair), it was a hard concept for me to grasp. Why would I pray for God to "let the waters rise if You want them to?" I knew that we ought to pray for what God wants ("Not my will but Yours, Lord"), but when there's something as tumultuous as a raging sea in our path... isn't it okay to pray that He will take it away?

Sometimes the thing God wants us to do is the very thing that we've been avoiding. We're standing there at the edge, looking down at the tumult of wind and spray and waves that look so threatening... and the last thing in our minds is to plunge in. We pray for God to take this impending doom away from us... for Him to "please make everything work out..." yet what if that is not His will? What if His will is instead that we face it and rely on Him for the strength to carry through?

This all really hit home with me this week in one word:

Surrender

I've thought about surrender before, but recently it has not been on my mind in the least. I thought I was doing okay just relying on God for strength to go through each day, much less having to surrender more things to God.

But it's been cropping up everywhere - the sermon at church, chapel speakers speaking about "Surrendered Self-Awareness" and calling God "Lord," and even tonight at my discipleship small group talking about surrendering your gifts and possessions so God can use them. Each time I've heard about it, I feel the barb of conviction pierce a little deeper into my soul.

Am I too happy, God? Too stuck on things going well? 

When is the last time I've prayed for Your Will to be done - no matter if Your will is that my life be turned upside down or that the situation I'm praying about not get better?  

Can I honestly say I will follow You even through the raging sea?

If I said I had this all figured out that would not be true. I'm still working through this, trying to see, trying to trust.

But one thing I do know, and that is that the Bible says to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us... [fixing] our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:1b-2)

I want to follow my Lord's example of perfect sacrifice. He has promised that if I fix my eyes on Him I can run the race well - even through the raging sea.