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This summer, we celebrated our 15th anniversary. Due to COVID and some mild busy-ness at work, it wasn't the celebration we had planned, but it's fascinating to me to look back on the journey we've had over the past 15 years, and I also realize how little idea I truly had of what I was getting into. We stood at the front of the church and made promises before one another, before family and friends, and before God, but we didn't know where the path would lead and what challenges we'd find along the way. We've tackled these together, but on our wedding day, I thought I knew what I was getting into, but combining two lives and navigating day-to-day life is a far bigger puzzle than I thought it was going to be.
When I read this passage, it makes me think how we often can't see far enough to know what things are really going to be like. The disciples follow Jesus into the boat, but Jesus never tells them what the ride is going to be like. When they discover there are storms in the midst of the sea, with waves threatening the boat's stability, they understandably panic and wake Jesus, certain of their impending death.
Some pastors sell their congregations on the idea that life with Jesus is meant to be calm and safe, but C.S. Lewis sums it up best in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: "Safe? Who said anything about safe? Of course he isn't safe, but he's good." God is trying to hand us eternal life, but the journey isn't always a midday stroll through a well-manicured park. That doesn't mean that God doesn't love you or that God's providence isn't still around... it simply means that chaos still exists in the world, and we're walking through it, together, with the sort of man that the winds and the sea obey. Perhaps we didn't realize how threatening the seas might be or how strong the winds could get, but you've still made the right choice.
Who else would you rather be with?
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