About Me

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Blue Ridge Area of Virginia
Alicha McHugh is author of "Daughter of the Promise" first in her: Numbered Among the Stars series (available on Amazon.com). She is a homemaker to her husband of 15 years, homeschooler to their children. Writing, enjoying tea and creaming Raw Honey are three of her current pursuits. Grabbing time to read is always high on her list of priorities! If you'd like to contact her, she'd love to hear from you! Just email: alichamchugh@gmail.com

Thursday, May 14, 2009

We walk on water too...

I envied Peter. He knew the feel of sliding liquid beneath his feet, instead of firm ground, and still...he walked. The whole experience so foreign, so unforgettable. Think about it for a moment. The boat, a place he'd lived his whole life, feeling more at home on it than Matthew or John would have. The wind, an element never to be underestimated. Jesus, the one foretold since the beginning of time, his teacher and friend. And let's not forget his mouth which got him out of the boat in the first place. Remember what he said, "Lord if it is you..." And there it is...Even before getting out of the boat, Peter has questions, but he questions WITH hope.

Not too long ago I was looking back, not always a bad thing, remembering what it felt like when I dwelt with the Lord during painful times. I kinda camped out in his grace, saw by the light of his
mercy, and moment by moment was made mindful of the 'hope of his calling'. He tells us through Jeremiah, "I know the plans that I have for you, plans for good not evil, to give you a future and a hope." More than any other verse, I held on to that one in particular.

The past couple of years, I've had a sorta reprieve from chaos. The rain dissipated and the gardens of my life had a chance to grow in sunlight, the tears I had cried, full of the nourishing Word of God, fell on my parched soul, allowing the Lord to produce certain fruits in my life.

But there is something bittersweet about the time before the sun. A time when I saw only clouds of sorrow hovering over the horizon; when I trusted that the sun was still there, while embracing the storms. Looking back, I struggled for words to describe what it felt like being with the Lord, depending on him for my EVERYTHING.

At first the word 'floating' came to mind...but that was too easy a description for what I felt, what I went through. Carry? Not that either. I didn't feel carried, though I felt upheld. I felt...steadied. I felt the lion's breath, but not his teeth; the heat from the fire, but not the flame; the water, but not the waves. In a very real sense to me, I realized with surprise, it felt like I had walked on water with Christ. I walked with faith and, amazingly, there were times I didn't sink. But when the doubts began to overwhelm me and I faltered, the wind picked up and the waves rose up against me, I called out, just as Peter had, and He upheld me by his righteous right hand and guided me to a 'safe harbor' (Psalm 107).

But now, it seems, I've been too long on shore. My feet have gotten dry and I've begun to long for the salty air of ocean breezes and the constant dependency upon my Savior, who is closer than a brother. I've seen the warning signs from the harbor, the storms are returning. But this time, it's different. This time I remember...we do not walk so well with God in gardens anymore; so He takes us out into deep waters, that we may know our feet are made of clay. But God, who delights to do the impossible, has caused me to walk on water before, and by his strength, I look forward to meeting him out there again. Out beyond the 'safe harbor', out where faith changes the very nature of the elements as God transforms their effects on my soul.

To God be the Glory, great things he has done and is doing...in all our lives!

2 comments:

lorojoro said...

I hear ya, girl. Have felt much this same way (though not as well expressed) for a couple years now.

I don't really miss the trials, but I wish the "mountaintop" were not so fleeting....

Kristen said...

My most profound experiences of God's love was during the season right after I lost my second baby. (I miscarried two babies between Bethany and Josh.) I was deep in depression, but actually feeling how close and personal and intense God's love was for me in the midst of that season. It makes my memories of that time...sweet, when they could be very painful. It was like suffering, but being in a lush, green, life-giving valley at the same time. I'm finding suffering in the desert to be a quite different experience! It's a hard thing to have to be stretched to know God in the ways that such very different seasons reveal him. I guess I believe that, though I find my faith daily challenged on that point!