Tim, Lyndsay and Peter – 1978
My favorite person in the Bible is Peter (excepting God and Jesus, of course! 😉 )—so much so that we named our firstborn after him.
I think it’s because I can so identify with him. For example, when the disciples were in the boat and Jesus walked to them on the water (Matthew 14), Peter, bold and brash, asked Jesus to tell him to come to him on the water. “Come,” Jesus said, and out of the boat Peter went. He did fine for a bit and walked on the water, but then he started looking around at the waves and began to sink. Jesus had to save him, basically, from himself.
Oh, I have great ideas and plans—many of them even for the Lord. But so often I step out of the boat only to start looking at the circumstances around me, and I take my eyes off of Jesus. I have good intentions, but my follow-through isn’t so great. Sometimes I start thinking about how I can’t do what He has called me to do.
Take this blog, for instance. I know God has called me to “encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands . . .” The Bible says so in Titus 2:3-5. And as I was preparing to retire from working at THSC, I came to believe that one way God was leading me to do that was to write a weekly blog.
Well, let’s see; I “retired” at the end of June in 2013. This is May of 2014. Um, what’s the problem? I began to think, “What if I don’t have something to write about every week?” (God may not be big enough to handle giving me something to say weekly!) What if I don’t have time every week?” (Retirement has been a lot busier than I ever expected!)
The Lord impressed upon me when studying Matthew 14 that I had taken my eyes off of Jesus. If God has called me to do something, He will enable me to do it. My job is to keep my eyes on Jesus, not on my circumstances, and obey.
So, finally, here we go!
What has God called you to do, but you’ve let circumstances keep you from obeying and stepping out of the boat?
Great Idea! I look forward to reading your posts. This time of our lives is fun too, isn’t it. Our fifth grandchild is due in July and we are so excited.
“What has God called you to do, but you’ve let circumstances keep you from obeying and stepping out of the boat?”
Hmmmm…. that’s a tough one… let me think… 😉
SO happy to see your blog! <3
Way to go Lyndsay!
The Lord has taught you a lot. I know he will continue to use you to touch lives for His glory.
Miss y’all
For me, it would be serving others. I learned to serve while growing up by being a helper to my mom, and it was something that I felt called to do by the Lord. As an adult, I feel that He has called me to serve others by helping meet their needs (recently bringing dinner to those that are sick or just had babies, giving clothes or other items as needed, and watching other young mom’s children so that they can rest, etc) or by providing the encouragement to help them get through tough times or day-to-day struggles. I struggle with my own feelings of inadequacy (how can I take a meal to someone when I don’t consistently prepare meals for my own family? how can I encourage someone that they are valuable when I don’t feel that way about myself sometimes?), but each time I do serve, I’m convicted that I need to do it MORE. I need constant time in prayer to overcome those obstacles!
What a sweet word of encouragement! Thank you for “stepping out of the boat”. I look forward to reading more of your blogs.
This is wonderful. Looking forward to further installations!