Trail Notes · Come to Me · Day 2 of 5

Drowning Men Don’t Need Swimming Lessons

The sermon, riding with you all week
Save the Cowboy · In plain cowboy talk
Day 2 · Tuesday · Matthew 14:30–31

Drowning Men Don’t Need Swimming Lessons

Pete did something no other man in history can put on his resume. He got out of a boat, in a storm, and walked on top of the water. And it worked, right up until he took his eyes off Jesus and put them on the wind.

Then he started to sink.

Now watch what he didn’t do. He didn’t tread water and act fine. He didn’t holler back at the boat for advice. He didn’t try to swim for it and prove he had it handled. He was going under and he knew it, so he hollered at the only one standing on the water. Lord, save me. Three words. And Jesus grabbed him, quick as that. No lecture first. The talking came after the catching.

A lot of us are covered up right now and calling it busy. But there’s a difference between busy and drowning, and most of us crossed it a while back. And here’s the hard truth: you can’t tread water forever, and you were never supposed to. Pride treads water. Faith hollers.

He’s close enough to catch you. He always has been.

Today, tell him the truth about the water you’re in. Out loud, where your horse can hear it. Three words will do.
“But Pete saw the wind whipping the waves, and the fear got him again, and he started to sink. He hollered, ‘Lord, save me!’ Jesus reached out and grabbed hold of him, quick as that, and said, ‘Your faith wouldn’t fill a thimble. Why did you doubt?’”Matthew 14:30–31 · Simplified Cowboy Version
Tomorrow: what else comes with the catching.