After my "conversion/collision" with God in 1988, life did not exactly smooth out, but instead, became more challenging. Doing things His way instead of my own forced me out of the "boat" of my own comfort and onto the treacherous sea to which He has called me.

In 1996, God gave me a "push" to move my family from Houston to Fort Worth, here in Texas, USA. A job opened up in the Fort Worth area, and I took it, and left my wife the "joy" of selling our home in Houston. Within a few months, the company's owner began secluding himself in his office and acting strangely distant to the employees. Then, the news came down that he was selling the company, and my new position was in jeopardy.

Like Peter, I had stepped out of the boat in faith, but now, I was starting to sink. And I was taking my whole family down — wife, teenagers, dogs, and all!

There was nothing left to do but yell, "Lord, save me!"

What did God do? In His own peculiar way, after a few weeks passed by, He opened the door for me with a company of aging owners. They wanted somebody on board with my "in-depth" experience to help them sell their company. They were great to me and treated this prodigal like one of their own.

It would not be the last time that Love incarnate would pull me out of the sea of trouble.

"Lord, save me!" How many times have we been sinking in life? We have lost a job or a loved one, or suffered some other type of setback. It looks hopeless. We are sinking, and sinking fast. "Lord, save me!"

Friends, if God calls us out of the boat that we are in, or the job, or the situation, we should ask only one question: "Lord, is it You?" Then we should follow our heart to Him, keeping our eyes upon Him and ignoring the winds and the waves of life. Should we begin to sink, we need remember this short prayer: "Lord, save me!"

Prayer: Father God, please give us the courage to "get out of the boat" — the boat of our misery, selfishness, and feelings of unworthiness — and come to You when You call, no matter what the cost. Amen.

We are all familiar with the story of the man born blind, how Jesus cures him, and the man begins a voyage of faith. But what if a person were to lose his sight in a tragic way? How would God manifest His works through such a person?

In 1972, during one of the worst years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a ten-year-old boy, Richard Moore, was walking home from school with his friends in Derry City. From inside his secure military hut, a British soldier fired a rubber bullet at this group of children at the bottom of a playground. It hit Richard on the bridge of the nose at ten feet, blinding him instantly and sending him to the hospital and onto a far greater journey.

He could have become a poster boy for those who would advocate violence as the means to solve the Troubles of Northern Ireland. Instead, by the grace of God, he learned to forgive the man who maimed him, and he walked away from darkness into the light of God.What is Richard doing these days? He founded a charity called "Children in Crossfire" in 1996 to help children in Tanzania and Ethiopia who are caught in the crossfire of poverty and injustice. In Richard's weakness, God's strength has come through.

He tells his incredible journey in the book, "Can I Give Him My Eyes?" He also talks about his own country and what is the path to peace.

I have come to realise that it does not matter if you are Protestant or Catholic, Unionist or Nationalist, British or Irish, the suffering is the same. And if we are to build a true and lasting peace in Northern Ireland, then one of the challenges will be to deal with the hurts of the past and try to ensure that they are not handed on to the next generation.

These words are true for us today, as there is always someone out there we need to forgive, in order to sow the seeds of peace and to make sure that the evils of today are not passed on to our children and our grandchildren.

Prayer: Father God, may we keep in mind the words You inspired in the psalmist long ago, for these are the words we must heed today if we are to walk from our blindness into Your light: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119.105 KJV) Amen.

A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of working with St. David's Relief Foundation in Bosnia. We were in a small town that had been attacked during the war. While our job was to put on roofs and help rebuild the town, I noticed that the church looked brand new. What I found out was that the church had been levelled during the war. When peace returned, the first thing that the people did was rebuild the church — even before rebuilding their homes. These simple people of faith knew how to please God. In return for putting Him first, God brought people like us to help them rebuild their homes, de-mine their fields, and put in a water system. When I visited the village a few years later, it had been fully resurrected from the grave. The lesson is simple: put God first, and everything else will fall into place.

Romans 8:28 – We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. (NRSV)

Prayer: By the words of today's Scripture, Lord Jesus, You challenge us to become one with You in mind, body, soul, and spirit, and not to quibble needlessly over doctrines or denominations or who has the better understanding of Your Word. The world is full of work to do. In Your name, Lord, let us begin. Amen.