Frustrated by his small crew’s inability to find their prey, Chief Brody complained as he dumped scoopfuls of chum over the side of the fishing boat into the water. For a moment he turned around and caught a glimpse of something that had quietly approached and risen out of the water. Feet from him was an enormous great white shark! Far bigger than he had imagined, and far more dangerous than he or anyone else had realized. Wide eyed, he backed away from the stern and stepped into the pilot house. He turned deadpan to Quint, the captain, and said the first thing that came to his mind. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
Actor Roy Scheider ad-libbed the line in the 1975 movie Jaws. It became the promotional line for the blockbuster film, and for many years it lingered in the national psyche as shorthand for severely underestimating a problem. Have you ever had a challenge, a decision, a circumstance, a crisis—one that loomed so large that upon examination you realized, “You’re gonna need a bigger boat?” We will all face our share of sharks in life and work. How should a leader handle an overwhelming difficulty?
God cares. In suffering through difficulty, we might assume that God doesn’t care about our problems. Just the opposite is true. God cares deeply, and tells us not to be afraid because His presence is with us. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Because we know that God is aware and cares, we can begin to process and deal with difficulties knowing His presence is with us, and His guidance will be available to us. We need not feel isolated and alone when the sharks surround us.
God protects. Not only does God care about us, but He also guards us during our crises. Nahum 1:7 says, “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” To take refuge in God is to seek safety and comfort through prayer and obedience to God’s Word, the Bible. If life has given you a storm, then consider God as the roof over your head. When there is danger about, God wants us to depend on Him to protect us from harm. This doesn’t mean we will never suffer, but God promises that those who take refuge in Him will not be destroyed. We need not fear the sharks eating us up when we are safe in the arms of a God Who protects.
God grows. The challenges and difficulties we face are opportunities for us to grow in our faith and trust in God. Romans 5:3-5 teaches, “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” God uses the things that overwhelm us to draw us to Him, and to develop our character. Facing the sharks of life and work are a means by which God may grow us.
God provides. Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Sometimes this verse is used around the idea of abundance—that God might lavish possessions and blessings on those He loves. Really, though, this verse is written to a people who were facing difficult persecution from outside forces (read Philippians 1). The more accurate thought is that when we face overwhelming difficulty, we can look to God to provide what we need in that situation. What God supplies according to His riches is likely not “stuff”. Rather, God gives patience, longsuffering, endurance, strength, perseverance, understanding, wisdom, fortitude, resilience—all of those aspects of Christ-like character that we may need to weather a shark attack.
God Himself is the bigger boat for those Who follow Him. When we trust God, we find Someone Who cares, Who protects, and Who provides that He can grow us. Remember Psalm 46:1-3: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” No matter what sharks are lurking in the waters about you today, you can know that you’re already ready for the fight, standing on the deck of the bigger boat.
Lars Keeley explains Paul’s instruction to Timothy to pursue righteousness with a vengeance—as an ongoing command, a way of life.