Jesus Is Bigger Than The Reef

A few weeks ago I put my 15 and 17 year old on a plane for a CS Surf and Serve to Indonesia. It was their first big surf trip that I haven’t joined them on. A million worries ran through my mind as I kissed them goodbye. What if something happens to them and I can’t get there? What if they get stuck in Indo (although that would be a dream for them!)? My brain ran through a thousand scenarios of what ifs. And then David sent me a photo of Tripp getting beat up by the reef. It was only day two, the swell was just building and Tripp had already been dragged across the reef! The photo David sent was him smiling, but the what ifs popped up in my head again. What if they don’t take care of it? What if it gets infected? Who is watching out for him? 

And then the verse came to me from Psalm 56:3-4, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust, I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”  As my mind swirled my “what ifs” changed to what if I just trust in God with my son? I know God loves my boys even more than I do, which is saying a lot as a mother’s love seems incomparable. God has faithfully gotten our family through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows throughout our whole life. Why would that change now just because Tripp wasn’t by my side? Psalm 13:5-6 says “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.” And that’s when my heart felt so much lighter. My heart began to rejoice in the fact that my sons were serving Jesus halfway around the world, that they worked so hard to save their own money to get there, and that God is never going to let go of them. God is bigger than the reef, than the triple overhead swell that was on its way, and bigger than any obstacles that might come our way.

What are the “what ifs” that you are dwelling on today? Is there anything you need to release from your control and hand over to God? How can you take comfort in the fact that God will never let go of you every step of the way?