[walking on water]

sometimes i feel as though i ride an immense rollercoaster of emotions. i can be so high and then plummet so far so quickly that i easily become disorientated- am i standing on my feet or on my head?

it is times like these that i am forced to consider what it is that i actually believe to be true.

i was listening to the radio in my car a few days ago and a listener called in to comment that all people need to do to find peace, hope, identity and healing is just start helping others. while i embrace the caller’s motive to assist others, i must question the wisdom of such a broad statement.

clearly, a recovering alcoholic would be a fool to enter into his favorite watering hole to rescue some of the patrons. you would never suggest to a recovering drug addict that they should go to a crack house and attempt to rescue other addicts. so where is the wisdom in sending out wounded, tormented christians to reach wounded, tormented souls?

the foolishness of God is wiser than all the wisdom of men. that which, by all comprehension, should not work, does. God does not follow logic- He transcends it. while we cannot always comprehend the ways God chooses to work, we can come to embrace the fact that God is for us and everything He does is designed with each and every one of us in mind. His plan is both all-encompassing and intensely personal. Both broad scale and directly intimate.

the identity struggle is deeply rooted in how open we are to intimacy. if we struggle to be intimate, we will struggle to discover who we are. if we cannot open up ourselves to others and learn to trust them, the how can we expect that we will be completely honest with God who already knows everything about us?
it is a cop-out to think that because God knows everything about us that we don't need to communicate our sins and needs with Him.

we can do the impossible. we can attempt the impossible without fear because God will never belittle us for attempting the impossible. and more often than not, we will discover that what seems naturally impossible is completely within the realm of possibilty for God- in fact, it is when we refuse to attempt the impossible that we fail God.

peter walked on the water. we read that story and only focus on the part where peter began to sink. the lesson we take from the story is that we need to keep our eyes on Christ. this is true- but entirely incomplete. peter walked on the water! the lesson we need to take from this is that we can attempt the impossible with complete confidence that we will succeed so long as it is within the will of God!

was peter a perfected human? was he complete and whole? history tells us no. and so, i revisit my earlier question, "is it wise to send out imperfect and wounded christians to reach and bring healing to wounded and tormented souls?" i say yes. because what humanly and naturally impossible, when approached through God's purposeful plan, becomes completely possible and attainable.