Nowadays, when I start preparing a sermon, I first write down the following words: “Not my words, but Yours!”. Our words get in the way so easily, leading to big mistakes on our part.

I was preaching at a retirement home in Somerset West. I woke up in the middle of the night the previous week, humming a song by our student band, Kerugma. The song was Psalm 1 set to music and I realised that this would be my sermon that Sunday.

It’s simple, said David. Don’t walk with the wicked. Rather walk with the Word of God day and night. Then you will be like a big tree planted next to a stream and you will bear fruit. People who are suffering will come and rest in your shade and you will be able to share your fruit. Surely it will go well with you.

But as I was talking, I realised that many of the people in front of me were struggling. Some were in bad health. Some were struggling financially. Some had very poor relationships with their children. Not all of them were in a good place. Was the scripture contrary to reality?

And as I was talking, the Lord gave me the answer. Hard times are part of life, but it can still go well with us, even as we are struggling. In my mind, I see the picture of a big oil tanker. Huge waves can come, but the ship is not affected by them. The ship keeps gliding smoothly onward, because it is so much bigger and stronger than the waves.

Our lives are also filled with many things and sometimes the waves are humungous, but if we keep going in the right direction and keep reading God’s Word, making it a part of ourselves, we will realise that our God is so much bigger than the waves in our lives. Yes, then it can go well with us amidst the hardship.

Take Abraham as an example. Abraham had an amazing relationship with God. He trusted God 100%. When God called him to go to a foreign land, his faith was so strong that he immediately pulled up stakes and went.

⁸By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left, he had no idea where he was going. ⁹By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents.

It didn’t always go well, even with this special child of God. God asked a big sacrifice from Abraham. And when he eventually reached his new country, the people there weren’t too pleased to see him. On the contrary, they saw and treated him as a stranger.

Fortunately, Abraham realised this was just a small wave passing by the ship, and that his God, the One who had called him and who had plans for him, was much bigger.

May we also realise that. Life is filled with waves trying to push us under. We only need to remember that our God is so much bigger.

Scripture
Hebrews 11:8-16

Reflection
What waves are splashing against you?
Do you believe that God’s ship is big enough?
What do you have to do differently?

Prayer
Father, it is good to be reminded that You are bigger than any wave coming my way. All glory to You. Please help me hold onto that. Give me the wisdom to deal with every wave as needed, together with Your Spirit. In Jesus’ Name, amen.