Are You Like the Tossing Sea?

By Mark D. Roberts

September 29, 2024

Scripture — Isaiah 57:20-21 (NRSV)

But the wicked are like the tossing sea
that cannot keep still;
its waters toss up mire and mud.
There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked.

Focus

Those who are righteous by God’s grace in Christ are not doomed to live in anxiety. Rather, through our intimate relationship with God we are given “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.” This peace will “guard [our] hearts and mind in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7).

Devotion

Do you ever feel like the “tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud”? I do, though I wish it weren’t true. I’ve been a Christian for over sixty years. In that time, I’ve experienced God’s peace time and again. I remember well how, in times of worry, God has calmed my soul. Yet there are still times, far too many, when I feel like the restless sea. Late at night, I can’t sleep as my mind “tosses up mire and mud.” Anxiety can be my unwelcome but familiar companion, along with fear and doubt.

In these times of agitation, I have not rejected God in any intentional or lasting way. But, in a sense, I have rejected God. I’ve turned my back on God’s promises. I’ve closed my heart to the Spirit. I’ve decided to rely upon myself and my ingenuity rather than upon the only one who is truly and fully reliable. I’ve chosen to do that which I know to be sin. It’s no wonder that when I back away from God, I lose touch with divine peace.

Yet the God of mercy doesn’t leave me in my restlessness. God finds ways to be very present to me. When I turn to God in desperation, God meets me . . . sometimes in that very moment, sometimes later. I realize that my life is never what it ought to be except when I rely fully on the Lord. As St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

According to Isaiah, the wicked are like the tossing sea. There is no peace for the wicked. Oh, those who consistently rebel against the Lord might experience apparent happiness for a season. But, in time, they will be caught in the unpleasant “tossing” of rebelling against God.

To put it positively, those who are righteous by God’s grace in Christ are not doomed to live in anxiety. Rather, through our intimate relationship with God we are given “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.” This peace will “guard [our] hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:7).

Reflect

When do you feel like the restless sea?

What helps you to experience God’s peace, especially in tumultuous times?

Do you need God’s gift of peace right now? If so, will you ask him for it?

Act

Talk with God honestly about the restlessness in your heart. Ask for the gift of divine peace.

Pray

Gracious God, you know how easy it is for me to feel like the restless sea. In times of uncertainty, my heart can cast up mire and mud . . . the mire of doubt, the mud of sin. Forgive me, gracious Lord, for all the times I fail to trust you.

May I never reject you, Lord, even in small ways. Help me, by your Spirit, to trust you each and every day, to walk with you, to put my life in your strong and capable hands. May my heart find rest in you, so that I might live each day boldly, free from worry and doubt. Amen.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Christ the Preacher of Peace.


Mark D. Roberts

Senior Strategist

Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a Senior Strategist for Fuller’s Max De Pree Center for Leadership, where he focuses on the spiritual development and thriving of leaders. He is the principal writer of the daily devotional, Life for Leaders,...

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