What To Do When You Are Beaten By the Waves

Mike Hosey, An Elder

If you’ve ever done a serious study of Job, you know that he was inundated by wave after wave of troubles.  He lost his children, he lost his wealth, and he was inflicted with a painful disease. In the midst of these waves, his wife told him to curse God and die. Even his friends became a wave of anxiety and trouble as they pummeled him with their well-meaning – but wrong – opinions that he was somehow responsible for the rough seas in which he found himself. These waves were rocked by Satan (Job 1:6-12). His intent was to show that Job was not loyal to God.  He was trying to push Job off course.  And he probably came close a number of times.

But Job was able to withstand wave, after wave.  And in the end he triumphed over Satan because he deliberately, intentionally, on purpose refused to see God as anything but good and in charge.  In that moment when his wife told him to curse God and die (Job 2:9-10), he replied, “Shall we receive good from God and not Evil.”  In that statement, he recognized both the control of God, and God’s right to allow any circumstance in the universe. His faith in the goodness of God kept him from the sin of charging God with any wrong.  Job succeeded in withstanding the waves where Peter, who had actually walked with Jesus, failed (Matthew 14:22-23).

In the Peter story, the disciples are in a boat on the sea being beaten by wave after wave, and they observe Jesus walking toward them on the water.  Peter, in his enthusiasm steps out of the boat and begins to walk toward Jesus. But as soon as he notices the wind, he begins to sink.  Jesus famously lifts him out of the water and asks him why he doubted.  Peter had lost sight of the power of God, as well as the decisive control of God.  Job, who had never physically walked with God, and could not even see God, recognized that God was both good, and in control of everything, even his torment. Peter, miraculously walking on water just a few feet from the very God he had lived with face to face for quite some time, forgot that fact.  He saw the wind and the waves instead of the God who loved him.

When a boat is in the dark night of the storm, and is being tossed by the waves, it must keep itself pointed at the light house.  When you are in the midst of those waves, always remember, like Job did, that God has you covered, and that he has a reason, even if you don’t understand it.