Have you ever felt like you were drowning in your circumstances? I have. Did you look for a hand to lift you up and give you hope? I did. Was there a hand stretched out to you to grab onto? There was for me, and I believe there is one for you as well. Let us find the hand that can lift you up whenever you need it.
I found that the hand I needed was always available to me. In most cases it was the hand of a Christian friend who was encouraging me, standing by me, or praying for me. However, these hands were not their own hands reaching out to me, but they were the hands of Jesus. They were reaching out to me just like when Jesus reached out to Peter when he was drowning in the Sea of Galilee after he lost the faith he originally had to walk on water. “And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So, Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” Matthew 14:28-31 (ESV)
I think it is important to me that Jesus reached out to Peter when his faith had weakened to the point that Peter would have drowned had Jesus not lifted him out of the water and back into the boat. How often I have slipped in my faith and taken my eyes off of Jesus, yet His outstretched helping hand was there to keep me from drowning. It maybe the hand of a friend directed by Jesus that is reaching out to you. It maybe the hand of a stranger being directed by Jesus to save you from drowning. It may be the hand of Jesus who is reaching deep into your heart to lift you up. Whenever Jesus reaches His hand out to you or I, we must grab a hold of it and be lifted out of the water that is drowning us because Jesus will save us!
So, join me in grabbing on to the helping hand of others and find hope. Understand that the most important helping hand is the one of the Lord Jesus Christ. Build a relationship with Jesus Christ, and like Peter hold onto His hand when you are drowning in your circumstances. He brings hope after everything that happens to us. He promises us, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8 (ESV) Then you will be prepared for anything which gives hope. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross satisfied the penalty for my sins and yours as well. It satisfied all my sins from the past, in the present and in the future. My penalty and yours was satisfied on the cross by the death of Jesus, God’s greatest act of love and wrath, who became sin for me and you. It was also God’s greatest act of faithfulness because “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (ESV) Because wisdom shows us, we need to believe in Jesus. I hope that you join me in helping others to choose Jesus.
If you have not read my previous blogs, you can find them here.
You can find my book, Hope Amid Hopelessness: Our Abba Father Provides a Way Through Mental Illness here.
eBook or Audiobook versions can be found at Westbow Press or Christianbook.com at Amazon or Google.
