A fun trip down a whitewater canal with my daughter and brother turned terrifying when my tube hit rapids and the sharp rocks sent the tube one way and me another. I found myself underwater, disoriented, and petrified. The only thing that I could think was that I was drowning. How could I possibly survive? In that moment, I had no idea what to do.

Sometimes in life we find ourselves in circumstances that make us feel like this.

An unwanted phone call.

A knock at the door.

A terrifying diagnosis.

In these moments, you may as well be underwater. It feels impossible to breathe. Panic squeezes your lungs, but somehow the air comes, and you remain alive. Nevertheless disoriented. When the waters rage, you look for One to rescue.

Dear friend, the One who is fully capable of rescuing us in the storm is both experienced in it and unsurprised by it. His history of faithfulness is true. He will rescue you!

Sometimes, God parts the waters. In the book of Exodus, when Moses and the Israelites found themselves between a sea and the enemy army, God parted the sea just long enough to rescue His people and destroy the enemy.

In the book of Jonah, our dear friend the prophet was wildly disobeying God. He was thrown into the stormy sea, fully assuming he would die. Despite his disobedience, God sent a giant fish to swallow Jonah, keeping him alive in the waters for three days until he puked him up on the land. It wasn’t glamorous, but he survived. The nasty stench that followed him was his witness to the people, bringing them to repentance and salvation from being destroyed.

In the New Testament when the disciples found themselves on a stormy sea, heading in the opposite direction of their personal miracle worker, they were likely sick with worry. Despite many of them being fisherman, they weren’t having fun. All of a sudden, they saw what appeared to be a ghost walking on the water. Realizing it was Jesus, Peter asked if he could walk on the water, too. Can you imagine the joy of this moment? With his eyes fixed on Jesus, I’m convinced Peter’s nightmare was turned into a brief surfing lesson.

There are times that God parts the waters for us. He creates a miracle and allows us to walk right through. Others he throws us right into the storm but carries us in it, with some stink to follow as a witness. But sometimes he invites us to fix our eyes on Him and turn our fear into joy.

As I found myself bobbing up and down in the water, I heard my brother shout out, “Savannah, you can swim!” I simply needed to be reminded that I was capable, and I had both the experience and the ability to get myself out of the situation.

In the same way, it’s important to remind ourselves that God has been faithful, not only to us in our brief lives, but throughout the entire span of history. He promises His people- and if you are a follower of Christ, that is you too!- when we pass through the waters, He will be with us, and when we pass through rivers, they won’t sweep over us (Isaiah 43:2). We can be certain, from experience and Scripture, that God will rescue, make Himself known, and if we dare keep our eyes fixed on Him, reveal His joy in the midst of it.