I Am With You
by: Ryan Carson, perimeter church director of middle school ministry
Ryan is the Director of Middle School Ministry at Perimeter Church. His wife, April, taught second grade at Perimeter School. Their oldest daughter, Kate, is a proud graduate of Perimeter School, where she attended all nine years. Their youngest, Emma, was here in grades K-4 and is returning this fall as a seventh grade student.
I AM WITH you
(An excerpt from Follow, by Ryan Carson)
One sunny July afternoon in 2002, April and I made the two-hour drive up I-575 to Lake Blue Ridge. Her parents had a cabin up that way and a small pontoon boat docked there. April’s two little sisters rode up with us, and we had planned to spend a few hours on the lake, just the four of us. It was a big deal for me. At 23 years old, and married for just one year, I was honored that Roger and Brenda would trust me to take all three of their precious daughters out on their brand-new boat.
We arrived at the marina and made our way down the dock to uncover the boat and get ready for departure. As the younger girls were getting settled on the boat, April and I walked back to the car to grab our cooler. Suddenly, the wind began swirling, the sky went dark, and huge claps of thunder announced the arrival of a hailstorm.
My adrenaline kicked in, and I bolted back through the parking lot. My feet barely touched the ground. I imagined April’s sisters would be making their way toward me, as well, and that we would meet somewhere in the middle. But, when I arrived at the shoreline, I couldn’t believe what I saw. The raging water was full of branches, hail, and other debris; several boats were drifting away, having broken free from their ropes; and the floating wooden pathway from the shore to our boat was completely submerged. April’s little sisters were huddled together, holding tightly to the boat railing and one another, trying with all their might not to fly away. I stood at the water’s edge utterly powerless. There they are, here I am - yet there is absolutely nothing either of us can do to get to each other.
And then, just as quickly and unexpectedly as the storm appeared, it eased. The winds died down, the waters settled, and the sun peaked back through the clouds. Everyone was okay - shaken, disoriented, humbled, but okay.
God’s message to the powerless
I wonder if you know that feeling - that powerlessness. It’s a powerlessness that comes from a right understanding of our limitations. And it is a feeling that the best disciple-makers learn to embrace and harness for the benefit of those they serve.
God’s message to the powerless? “I am with you.”
Yahweh spoke these words of comfort and confidence to Isaac (Genesis 26:24), Jacob (Genesis 28:15), Moses (Exodus 3:12), Joshua (3:7), Isaiah (41:10), Jeremiah (1:19), and through the prophet Haggai to the entire family of Israel (2:4). The resurrected Jesus said the same thing to his disciples (Matthew 28:20) and years later to Paul in a vision (Acts 18:10). “I am with you.”
Notice what each of these testimonies have in common:
God has sovereignly and graciously chosen this person to bring His blessings to others.
The person feels afraid, inadequate, or unqualified for the mission.
God says, in effect, “I know. That’s why I’m not asking you to do this alone.”
Afraid. Inadequate. Unqualified. How I wish I had the skill to convey to you how deeply and frequently I have felt like this. It’s been the song of my life - verse after verse, same as the first. But, praise God, there is a chorus that follows each of those verses: “I am with you.” Oh, that you and I would learn to pray from our hearts the song of David:
Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me.
(Psalm 23:4)
“I am with you” is the solution to the paradox of the important task that Jesus has assigned us and our complete inability to accomplish it. Jesus will be the disciple-maker, by way of his Spirit within us. As we look into the eyes of our newborn child, wondering how in the world we’re going to lead them down the path of life, Jesus whispers, “Don’t be afraid. I am with you.”