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Rozanne Paxman
Keep Your Eyes Steady
Billowing wind tossed the ship about in the night. The men, who had been sent on the journey by their Master, were anxious and worried. They were tasked with reaching their destination, but the winds threatened their safe arrival.
Suddenly, one of them looked out from the ship and spotted a figure moving towards them on the water. "It is a spirit," he shouted. Sensing the fear in their friend's voice, the men rushed to the side of the ship and peered out into the darkness.
"Yes, a spirit," said another. "It is a sign... a sign of danger."
The men began to tremble and cry with fear as they imagined the worst possible outcome.
But when the figure came closer, they saw that it was the Master. "Be of good cheer," Jesus said to them, "It is I. Be not afraid."
Peter, the enthusiastic one, cried out, "Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water."
The Master smiled, held out His hand and replied, "Come."
Peter climbed down the side of the ship and began walking towards the Master. Eyes studying eyes, he traveled across the waves unaware that the impossible had become possible. He was steady and sure because his eyes were steady and sure on his Master.
Suddenly, a gust of hard wind hit Peter, and he took his eyes briefly from the Master. When he looked away, he was overcome with fear. Peter thought, "Who am I to think I could walk on water? Who am I to think that I could do what the Master does?"
In that split second, as intense fear welled up in him, he began to sink in the waves. Fear replaced faith. Unsteadiness replaced steadfastness. Chaos replaced peace. His eyes had been averted, and the price was paid.
"Lord, save me!" Peter cried with a voice ringing with a mixture of desperation and hope.
Jesus reached out and caught Peter, restoring the man to the surface of the water, which instantly felt as solid as the road to Jerusalem. "O thou of little faith," Jesus sighed. "Why did thou doubt?"
Our lives are filled with constant opportunities to choose faith or fear. When we choose faith, we live with hope for a better life, with belief that we can manage challenges, and with trust that our life will become what it is meant to become. We don't require life to show us what is coming because we are grateful for what we have right now. Our eyes are up, our minds are filled with plans, and our souls are reaching up and out.
If we choose to live by fear, we become nervous, anxious, and worried that everything will fall apart. If we choose to live by fear, we feel we must constantly be on guard. If we choose to live by fear, our minds circle mental wagons meant to keep out enemies.
Fear seizes the heart, the chest, the gut, the limbs, the mind with such a terrible inflexibility, that any unexpected crisis makes us crumble. We become like the E-string on a beginning student's violin, snapping when it is wound too tightly by an overexcited child.
But faith warms us, fills us with peace, calms us, and fills us with love. Faith tells us that we will be assisted, and therefore, we are assisted. Faith tells us that we will be blessed, and therefore, we are blessed. We believe life is good to us, and therefore, we see that life is good to us even when it is teaching us difficult lessons.
So keep your eyes steady. Look ahead and up. If you do, it will work out. It always does, somehow. Maybe it won't work out the way you imagined it should. But if you keep your eyes steady, looking forward in faith, you will arrive at the proper destination – the destination that is meant just for you.
- Ro
Muse: To be absorbed in one's thoughts; engage in meditation. Not intended to solve the world's problems, another person's problems, or to cover topics completely. One does not have to agree with musings to enjoy them, just as one does not have to be the same as someone else to appreciate who they are.
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