It’s All About How You Fall

“Everyone stands somewhere. Even if we sometimes don’t know where we are standing … because we’ve never give it any attention. But there we are, nonetheless, standing somewhere” (Piper 21). John Piper writes these words in his book A Peculiar Glory. It is a book about how God reveals his glory through Scripture, and it has captivated me these past few weeks. These particular words about standing popped into my head as I stood in the pounding surf and attempted to photograph my boys and their cousins learning to paddle board. Standing somewhere was a very important theme that day. And so was falling.

It turns out that standing on a floating surf board while ocean waves crash around you and currents pull underneath you isn’t quite as easy as it looks. And as you attempt to accomplish such a feat, you think a lot about where you are standing. It determines whether you will see the horizon or the sandy bottom of the ocean floor.

I heard the older boys holler it to the younger ones as they tried to hold the board steady, “Watch where you are standing!” You can’t just stand haphazardly on the bobbing board or on the edge of the shifting surf. You have to be aware of where you are or down you will go.

The older two became quite skilled at paddling and navigating the board. They learned how to lean into the approaching waves, to keep their eyes up and most importantly how to fall off without knocking their teeth out! And as they cruised along above the crashing surf, I was reminded of Peter, one of Jesus’s disciples, and his attempt at wave navigating.

It seems that the expanse of these created waters provides the perfect classroom for God to reveal his glory.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us this story about a time the disciples set out on a boat trip without Jesus. They are unexpectedly hit by wind and waves that send their boat reeling.

Ever been there? In a storm you never saw coming that upends your boat? The job change, the sick kid, the dwindling bank account, the unexpected twist in your story that leaves you unable to find your sea legs and certain that there is no hope?

“It was during the fourth watch of the night, [that] Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.” (Matthew 14:25). During the darkest hour of the night, with the boat far from land and the wind fiercely against them, that’s when Matthew tells us that Jesus came walking on the water toward the disciples.

But here is what I find interesting about this account in Matthew. Never once does it say that the disciples cried out to him for help. Not once. It tells of the storm and the darkness and the tossing boat, but not a mention of the disciple’s pleas for Jesus to come save them. Like maybe they didn’t even know they needed to be saved? He just came for them, and stood right atop the crashing waves. Because he knew. He knew they couldn’t stand on their own.

Sometimes we can be standing in storms and not even know where we are.

Sometimes, the contrary winds and the tossing waves can throw our feet out from under us so quickly that we don’t even realize we need saving. But Jesus knows. He knows and he comes for us.

The disciples sorta freak out because they hadn’t been expecting him to show up. They are trying to find their footing inside a rocking ship and suddenly there’s Jesus, calmly standing on the water.

It’s Peter who finally gets his wits about him and shouts “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water”. (Matthew 14:28). I know it sounds weird like that, but for some reason I have always loved the sound of the King James Version here. It just seems to convey the fear and the reverence that Peter must have felt as he stood on the edge of that boat.

“Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee?”

And maybe you have done this too? Stood on the edge of a new season or in a storm with the winds twisting around you and heard your heart pounding in your ears? Stood and wondered like Peter, “Lord, is it really you? Are you standing out there in front of me? Should I get out of this boat and head into this stormy water? Is this what you are calling me to do? Lord if it is you, bid me come unto thee?”

“What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.” C. S. Lewis writes. On the edge of a wind tossed boat, the waves sound and look unimaginably big, but next to the Creator of the universe, those same waves have no power. Peter chose to take his chances and shift his position. His eyes locked with his Savior’s and he walked right on top of the frothy billowing sea. For just a few moments his footing was right, his balance perfect in the sway of it all and his eyes fixed in the right position. He was walking on water!

But then, he looked away. He became afraid of where he was standing. The storm drew his attention and down he went. “Lord save me!” (Matthew 14:30). He cried for help, and then he fell — right into Jesus.

Lord save me, I don’t know how to do this. Lord save me, life is asking too much of me right now. Lord save me, I don’t have the skills I need for this job. Lord save me, I am doing it all wrong; standing in the wrong place and leaning the wrong way, Lord save me …

“Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him…” (Matthew 14:31).

Sometimes falling into Jesus is the best move we can make. Sometimes our ability to be excellent standers and easily paddle board our way through all of the challenges that life throws at us isn’t enough. Sometimes, we have to learn how to fall.

Because here’s the thing. It is only in the falling that we feel the touch of our Savior’s hand as he reaches out to catch us. “My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Piper goes on to write in the first chapter of his book. “I do not merely hold a view of scripture. I am held … nothing in the world comes close to the beauty and value of God and his ways and his grace.” I am held. Held  by grace through the sway of it all (Piper 35). Piper claims that his view of who God is has held true throughout his years not because he, John Piper, has been so good at standing on the waves life has brought his way, but because God has held onto him and thus revealed his glory.

It is tempting; the desire to get so good at standing on the water that we can just do it on our own. But here’s my prayer.

Lord, may we  remember how to fall. May we never get so good at standing on our own that we forget how to be held by our Creator.

Lord if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water even if it means I might fall down.