There is a change quickly approaching. I see it all around. The trail we walk on every morning has more and more leaves covering it. I can see it in the trees. The deep green of summer is slowly starting to fade to a warm yellow indicating the arrival of fall. The mornings are getting darker and cooler. Nature is telling us that change is coming. God is also telling me that change is coming.

The time I had staying at home with Remi is coming to a close at the end of this week and I really am not sure how to feel about it. With my husband in the military, change has almost become a friend to us. It’s all we know. Every few years change comes in a big way. Even in between the moves from place to place there is constant change in routine. Sometimes he is here, sometimes he is not. It’s not like I am a stranger to change.

But this time it feels different. It’s like I am tied to a railroad track and I can see the smoke blowing and hear the train chugging along right at me. The start of a new job doesn’t really seem like that big of a life moment for me, but I am feeling so nervous about this new beginning. I just don’t feel like I know how to handle it.

As I sit with this confusion, Psalm 121 comes to mind. A short 8 verses about help coming from the Lord. I tried really hard to memorize this verse when I was pregnant and getting close to giving birth. I say try because I am still working on getting it all locked up in my brain. Every verse in this Psalm is so comforting. Just from reading the first two verses, I feel relieved knowing I can look to God for help. Help in this time of change. He will not let me down.

There other Scripture that comes to mind is the tried-and-true Peter walking on the water. I have said before that God put this story on my heart at the beginning of 2022, and it amazes me how applicable it has been in my life since then. From really digging in to that story, I have found so much comfort, wisdom, and guidance. And here I am again, coming back to this story.

In Matthew 14:22-32, the disciples are caught in a wind storm on a boat in the middle of the water. Jesus approaches the boat by walking on the water and after telling the terrified disciples that its him, Peter asks Jesus to call him out of the boat to walk on the water with him.

“Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Matthew 14:29-30 (NIV)

What really strikes me in verse 30 is that it says Peter saw the wind and became afraid. But you can’t really see wind. You can feel it, you can sometimes hear it, you see what it does to objects around you, but you can’t see it. So why would Matthew phrase it like that? To me, it shows how often we as humans become fearful of things we can’t actually see. Things out of our control. The future maybe? The crazy scenarios we let run rampant in our minds that could never really happen? Ever approaching change in our lives?

Thinking about it more, I feel so convicted of this. I do not know how this new job will affect my whole life really, I can’t see what is going to happen. So I have taken in fear, I have let the invisible winds of change shift my focus, and before I even start this new job, I am beginning to sink.

So, what do I do now? How do I stop sinking? Just like Peter, I need to call to my Savior for help.

“Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’” Matthew 14:31 (NIV)

Now is the time to cry out, to stretch out my hand to the One already reaching for me. I can’t let my gaze shift away from Jesus even in this time of change. I have to continue looking to Him for help. I really have to continue looking for Jesus in every day. I think that is how I will be able to handle this. Lifting my eyes to One who created Heaven and Earth like it says in Psalm 121. I must continue looking for help. Seeking out God’s goodness in every little crevice of each day.

This is not a bad change necessarily, but that doesn’t make it any less scary. What makes this transition less scary is holding the gaze of Jesus. I have already stepped out of the boat, so now it’s sink or swim. Well, I guess it’s sink or walk because this is Jesus we are talking about. But it now feels more important than ever to keep searching for God in the everyday. If stop looking for His fingerprints, I am sure to sink. I do not want to let new distractions get in the way of what God has called me to. Fear and worry have no place when my eyes are locked with the One who clams the storm.

Through this story of Jesus and Peter walking on the water, God has shown me how to handle the inevitable change racing toward me at full speed. I do not have to sit in the worry, becoming anxious of the things I can’t actually see. I can look to my helper. Hold His gaze and reach for His hand. I can walk on the water.