I liked comfort. I liked predictability. I liked control. I’ll fully admit it now, I liked living in a box of security because if you never left the box, you could never get hurt. I lived in this personal prison of a box for almost nineteen years before something finally changed. The second I walked that stage at high school graduation was the second that I realized that I didn’t want to be the same person anymore; I went through a lot of self-hate during those four years. I was terrified of the world around me because I was afraid of who I was. That summer, I began a relationship with Jesus, and I haven’t been the same ever since. The vast majority of my freshman year consisted of trying to grow in my faith but still struggling to escape the shackles of the box of isolation. I grew in my faith but I also shut out people that were wanting to help me because I was stubborn on that fact that I didn’t want to let others into my brokenness. Fast forward to this semester, the fall of my sophomore year, my faith has skyrocketed but I still struggle at times with not wanting to leave my comfort zone. It wasn’t until I went on one of my solo movie trips to see HILLSONG: Let Hope Rise, where God rocked my world once again. In the movie they began to sing “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail)” and I began to weep due to the magnitude of the lyrics being sung,

“Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters

Wherever You would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior”

I immediately began to think how arrogant and closed off that I was being when I tried to hold all of the control and not submitting to the authority of God. I wanted to be in control but I was holding myself back in the process by cowering to adversity or risks that were placed in front of me. I was also weeping from joy from the realization that he takes me into deeper waters than I would normally take myself in order to grow me. A father isn’t just going to let their child sink and drown; he’s going to be there with the child every step of the way, no matter what. I encourage you to dive in head first, do not allow yourself to be content with being in the shallow end when you could have so much more fun and prosperity in those deeper waters in front of you. I’d walk into the deepest OCEANS just for you.