Come Out into the Deep

Today’s message was written by my friend, Rev. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

Friend of Dial Hope, Life is difficult; it gets bumpy sometimes. Things don’t always go just as we want them to go. Sometimes the winds blow against us. Sometimes we feel crushed and confused and weighed down. It’s enough to make Norman Vincent Peale a pessimist! In the 14th chapter of Matthew, Simon Peter looked at Christ, and he walked on water. When he took his eyes off Christ and looked at the waves, he became scared and began to sink (Matthew 14:22-33).

There is a story about a little girl who was so excited because her father was going to take her to see the movie “Snow White.” Someone said to the little girl, “But won’t you be scared of the wicked witch?” “No,” she said. “When the witch comes on, I won’t look at her. I’ll just look at my father!” That’s the way it works, isn’t it? When we fix our eyes on God, we can do incredible things.

In Charlene Anderson’s poem, Dialog with God, God speaks first, insisting but with patient reassurance. And the poet answers, timid and afraid in the beginning, but with ultimate confidence and unconditional trust in the Lord:

“Come out into the deep…”

“But Lord, I’ll sink to the bottom.”

“I am with you…”

“Okay, Lord, here I come!”

Let us pray: Loving God, Shepherd of all that lives, we come to you with joy and thanksgiving for the gift of this day, which is an unrepeatable miracle. Be with those who are afraid, who wonder why there is no safety to be found anywhere. Be with those who are lonely, who wonder if there will ever be a time when there will be someone to turn to in the night. Guide us to a place of strength and courage where we can pick up the pieces of our lives, and begin to build a Kingdom of justice and care that is free from hostility and terror but filled with the roses of righteousness. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ the Good Shepherd. Amen.