It’s 11pm on a Sunday night in the heat of Finals season, and I finally put down the memoir I had been engrossed in for a little over a day. When I read the title “When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir”, I knew it was something I would thoroughly enjoy. What I didn’t know is that within the pages of Patrisse Cullors’ book, I would find an apt theme for my 2019: “Walk-on-Water Faith”.

The expression “Walk-on-Water Faith” is presumably of Cullors’ own coinage but for most people who grew up Christian, the words ‘walk on water’ ring a bell. So for anyone who currently, can only recall the words in the context of music (Walk on Water-Eminem ft Beyonce, 2017), let me try to juggle your memory. In the New Testament of the Bible, Matthew 14:22-33 to be precise, Jesus bids Peter to come to him on water and Peter, despite being merely human, is able to do so. This miracle in Peter’s life only lasts a short while as he catches sight of the wind, and loses faith. Jesus then walks on water, rescuing him. Now, we could analyse this story and highlight many lessons to be learnt but I think the most salient point is this: perfect trust.

Perfect trust in God requires trusting God in every situation, even when things look bad. Fear will ask you “How will you achieve this?”, whilst Doubt will tell you outrightly “you cannot achieve this”. Worry will assess the situation for you pointing out the one million things that could go wrong, but would never tell you that just one thing could go right, and that’s all you really need. Perfect trust involves rising above human tendencies such as fear, doubt and worry, and transcending to a state where we have unshakable faith in God who is more than able to come through for us. Remember how many times He has come through for you in the past? Exactly.

Furthermore, there will be distractions to throw us off but we must focus on God . Notice how Peter was walking towards Jesus, doing something extraordinary, when he was solely focused on Him. The minute he began paying attention to distractions (the wind), he began stumbling. This year, I pray we never lose sight of God. I pray we know that in life there will always be highs and lows, but if we hold on to our faith, then we will come to understand why God let the lows happen, and see that God always works for the good of those who love Him.

Prayer Request: That everyone who desires to get closer to God this year achieves their goal.

You should listen to these (Let the words sink in):
Highs & Lows-Hillsong Young & Free
Hills and Valleys-Tauren Wells
Push/Pull-Hillsong Young & Free