When Oceans Rise

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)- Hillsong United

One of the number one worship songs. It has reached the top of the charts. We sing it at church. Pretty much every Christian band has made a cover of this song. But are we as worship leaders listening to the words we're singing? Are we listening with open hearts and open minds and believing the words we're singing? Are our friends sitting at the church hearing our hearts?

 

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep
My faith will stand

 

 

Guys, I'm going to have a hard time writing this post. This song really just gets me right in all the feels. Yup. I just said in all the feels.

 

 

God has called us out on the ocean. Matthew 14:28-31 is that call. The disciples on the boat have such little faith and don't believe it is Jesus, and so Peter says "if it's really you Jesus, tell me to come on the water with you." Of course, Jesus says "come on Peter the water's fine!" For those of you who know this story, you know that Peter starts losing faith when he see's the strong winds coming and starts to sink. I know that I, very often, also lose my faith. I know that God is calling me out on the ocean to walk with him, but it can be so easy to just think "No, I'm safe in this boat, why do I have to come walk on the water where there is wind, and sinking, and where I know I will drown??"

 

Guys, we are called to do so much more than sit in the boat.

 

 

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

 

We are all God's children. And He is our heavenly father. No matter what life throws at us, this will never change. "When oceans rise my soul will rest in your embrace." This is the season I am in now and that I have to remind myself to keep my eyes above the waves in a sense. I can see the storm. I can feel it. I am Peter right now. And yet, here I am, taking those scary steps toward Jesus.

 

 

Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

 

This may arguably be one of my favorite lines in any song ever. I just can't get over how powerful these words are. When I start to sink, when I feel engulfed in the waves, when I let fear overcome my life, there you are, ready to pull me back up. You've never failed and you won't start now. Why would Jesus decide now is the time to let you down? Why would Jesus say "Actually I'm going to let you sink today?" If you feel like you've sunk and Jesus isn't there, you need to evaluate what's going on because those thoughts that Jesus isn't with you is straight from the Devil. Those words are not those of Jesus. "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6)

 

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me

I really want to take time in the bridge here. The first half of the bridge is one of the most convicting parts of this song and if you're really listening and have your heart open you will start to feel the way I feel when I sing this section. It really is a prayer. Lead me where my trust is without boarders. Do you know how hard that can be? To just trust so openly that there's no way you could ever NOT trust? I know from the outside I lead this life of trusting God whole heartedly, but that just simply isn't true. Do I trust God? Absolutely. Do I think I'm ready to walk upon the waters WHEREVER he calls me? Yup! Would I? Ehhhh.....

Trusting God fully in situations is hard. When life is easy, saying you have full trust in God's plan is so easy, because everything is good. Of course you are going to trust Jesus, he's letting everything go so well right now!

But what about when the storms hit? When someone dies, when you get a diagnosis, when you lose your job. Will you still have the same (if not more) trust in Christ that he will lead you through these bad times? I know it's been quite a road of trusting God these past 2 years of infertility (and only knowing the actual cause for a year). I also know now that God is still good and is still by my side and that I have trust in him because he's called me to this.

 Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Savior

 

I'm not sure why yet, but the waters that he has called me to walk upon is infertility. Is it because he wants me to be sad and not have a child? Absolutely not. But maybe he's putting me through this situation for so that I can spend this time getting closer to Him. Isn't that the whole reason we're created, to live and love like Jesus? I wasn't born to go to school, get married, have kids, work, travel, etc. etc. I was born to find Christ and follow him. Everything else is just a gift from him.

Maybe I'm going through this to build up my marriage even more. Strong marriages are built up not because of happiness, but because of faith in Christ, and certainly the past 2 years have been a lot of putting faith in Christ. A baby won't make our marriage stronger (though it could), but ultimately, following Christ will.

Or lastly, maybe I'm called to infertility because it will help you. It will help the man or woman reading this right now to realize they aren't alone. They aren't the only one struggling through this. Or maybe you aren't going through fertility issues, but you have other things going on. You're going through divorce, or you had to foreclose on your house, or maybe someone died suddenly and you aren't sure where to turn. And seeing that I can have faith and trust in God through my hard time can show you that you can too.

God is making me SO much stronger in all of this. That's basically what I'm trying to say with the second half of this bridge. I never thought that infertility would happen to me. I never thought I'd be called to do the things that I do in my every day life, and yet here I am, just following Christ's will for my life.


I know this song can be a lot. It can be a lot to ask someone to trust without boarders, to walk off the edge of our boats and follow Jesus on the water. But yet here we are, being called everyday. Are you following that call? Have you stepped off of the boat?

Today as I sit in my 20th month of trying to get pregnant (pushing 21) I just pray that I am following him. I am jumping off my boat and following his will. I know that I can't control everything. So I'm leaving my fertility issues on that boat and just following Jesus where ever he sends me. Do I hope that he sends me to another boat with a positive pregnancy test? Of course. But even if it's another failed attempt month, I'm going to still go running.

I leave you with this scripture:

"The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD thunders over the mighty waters." -Psalm 29:3

God Bless,
Amanda