President’s Post: Trials, Triumphs, Fears and Failures

Dear student, in life, you will have many places to go and many choices to make. Take care that wherever you go in life, you are going to the place where God is calling you to be, and always look to Christ when making difficult decisions. True wisdom comes when we fear the Lord and aim to please him.

Theodor Geisel was a relatively unknown cartoonist for Vanity Fair and Life magazine until he turned his pen toward being an author and cartoonist for children’s literature. He then became a huge success. At his death, Geisel had authored over 60 books, selling over 600 million copies worldwide in 20 different languages. He was best known for the pseudonym that he adopted at Dartmouth College, “Dr. Seuss.”

The last book Dr. Seuss published, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go,” became number one on the New York Times Best Sellers list. In it, Dr. Seuss speaks of an unnamed traveler who goes through life making difficult choices, but ultimately guided by wisdom, he makes good choices along life’s journey.

Dr. Seuss writes, “You’ll look up and down streets. Look ‘em over with care. About some, you will say, ‘I don’t choose to go there.’ With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down any not-so-good street.”

It reminds me of a story out of Matthew’s gospel. There was a stormy morning on the Sea of Galilee, the sun had not yet come up over the horizon and the disciples were all alone in a boat. Peter was among them. He was shocked to see a shadowy figure emerging from the fog and walking directly into the water. The rest of the disciples screamed, “Ghost!” But Jesus said, “Take courage! It is I. Do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:26-27).

Many of you know what happened next — Jesus commanded Peter to come out onto the water with him. When he did, Peter walked on the water, but when Peter saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink. He cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus reached out and caught Peter, saying, “You of little faith; why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31). At that moment, they climbed into the boat, and the winds died down. All the disciples stood in awe and worshipped Jesus, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God”
(Matthew 14:33).

There are several immediate lessons I want you to see from this passage. First, while the disciples were in the boat and the storm, they were not alone. Jesus was right there with them. Jesus was in the midst of the storm because Jesus is the God of the storm. Not too long before that event, the disciples saw Jesus calm the storm with one command, and they said, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Matthew 8:27). Jesus Christ is God in the midst of the storms of life. That means that we can always trust him.

Second, when Peter steps out into the water, he looks to Christ and walks out onto the water. The moment he takes his eyes off Jesus, he begins to sink. As Christians, we must always look to Christ, and we must always choose faith over fear. But I want you to notice precisely how this happens in the story. When Peter looks to Jesus, he is choosing faith. The moment he took his eyes off the Lord, he chose fear. That was the moment he began to sink into the water. You will have many hardships and trials in life, but I want to encourage you to always look to Christ in those moments. Always choose faith over fear.

Finally, that moment that Peter began to sink, what happened? He cried out to the Lord, “Save me!” Jesus was not there to play games. He was not playing any tricks on Peter. Jesus immediately reached out and caught him from falling beneath the waves. It is an excellent reminder that “whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13-15). In life, there will be trials and triumphs, and there will also be fears and failures. We must cry out to the Lord for rescue and restoration in those moments of failure. Peter would have other moments where he needed to be restored, and the Lord always remained faithful even when Peter was not.

Dear student, I am excited about your future and the many places you’ll go. You will have many opportunities and decisions to make along the way. My prayer for you is that you would make wise decisions, look to Christ, choose faith over fear and always trust him in the midst of the storm. He is mighty to save. 

Prevo is the Interim President of Liberty University