All In, All Out

There’s a song I really like called Tremble. The opening line says, “Peace, bring it all to peace, the storm surrounding me, let it break at Your Name.”

If I’m not actively listening to music, more often than not, I start singing (especially at work) and Tremble has become my current default song. I’m not mad at it. There have definitely been worse songs to consistently get stuck in your head. (I survived 2010 when Baby by Justin Bieber was everywhere.)

But getting back to the point.

When I hear the song, I think about a couple of things.

The first is Jesus in the boat with the twelve disciples and sleeping through a storm. The disciples woke Jesus up in a panic like, “Hey! We’re about to die and you’re sleeping! Do you maybe want to do something about it?!” Jesus woke up, asked them why they were afraid, told them they lacked faith, then commanded the storm to calm. I don’t really know what the disciples thought Jesus would do, but it clearly wasn’t telling the wind and waves to chill out (Matthew 8:23-27).

The second thing I think of is Peter when Jesus was walking on the water. Jesus told Peter to come so he got out of the boat, started walking to Jesus, then got freaked out by the wind and started to sink. Jesus caught Peter, told him again that he lacked faith and asked why he doubted (Matthew 14:28-33).

Peter has to be my favorite disciple. He’s like that meme of a penguin that says, “You’ve triggered my fight or flight response and I’m a flightless bird.” When Jesus got arrested, Peter literally pulled out a sword and took the ear of a priest’s servant off. Don’t worry, Jesus put the ear back (Luke 22:50-51).

Peter was so all-in at that moment. He thought he would do anything for Jesus. 

But right after that, he denied Him. Three times (Luke 22:54-62).

Now, before we give Peter too hard of a time, don’t we have a tendency to be that way too? All-in one moment, then all-out the next?

Maybe it’s during worship when everything feels right, we’re fully in, then the music stops. Real life hits. And suddenly we feel overwhelmed by everything around us.

That’s why Deuteronomy 6:4–9 is so important. It reminded the Israelites not just to remember God and what He's done fot them, but to build that remembrance into their daily lives.

Maybe for you that looks like writing a verse on a sticky note and putting it somewhere you’ll see it. Maybe it’s listening to worship music while you work out.

Because it’s really easy to go from “all-in” to completely “all-out” when our view of God is based on feelings instead of truth.

So here’s the truth:

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” — John 1:5

Write it down. Put it somewhere you’ll see it.

Again, it makes me think of Tremble in a line that says:

“His name is a light that the shadows can’t deny, His name cannot be overcome.”