In 2004 a 9.1 magnitude earthquake erupted on the seafloor of the Indian Ocean off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, which caused catastrophic devastation to the region and a staggering loss of life—over 200,000 lives were lost. Tsunamis occur when undersea earthquakes or volcanic eruptions displace a large amount of water, resulting in waves that are usually around 10 feet high but can reach to more than 100 feet high. The waves of a tsunami are not like the curling waves we see at a beach. They are walls of turbulent water, wave after wave that slam into the coastline, leaving death and destruction behind.

One of the great contributors to the loss of life during the 2004 tsunami was that people had not been educated about the warning signs of an impending tsunami and what to do when one threatens. When people saw the ocean withdraw leaving the seafloor bare, instead of fleeing many went to investigate. So what should you do? Get to higher ground as quickly as you can! One expert even advises that if you are not sure if you are high enough, then just keep moving uphill.

This expert advice should be adhered to not just when we are facing an oceanic tsunami, but also when we are facing a tsunami of adversity in our daily lives. Certainly, that is what we have experienced this past year—wave after wave of heartbreaking adversity that continues to spill over into 2021. Consider the fear and sorrow that COVID-19 has wrought, the restrictions and isolation that ensued, the brutal displays of racial injustice that pierces the very soul of our nation, the economic stress and hardship so many have experienced, and then in addition to all of these “waves,” the volatile “wave” of political dysfunction, turmoil, and division that has pitted one person against another.

No wonder at times we feel this tsunami of adversity will overwhelm us. But instead of succumbing to it, let’s follow the advice of the experts! Let’s get to higher ground. But how do we do that? Hebrews 12:2 provides an answer: “Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we are in. Study how he did it.”

So how did Jesus do it? How did he keep his feet firmly planted on higher ground when his resolve was being shaken by the suffering that he would experience not only from the torture of crucifixion, but also the trauma of becoming our sin?

1. He kept his focus on the joy of his eternal future. The second half of verse 2 in Hebrews 12 explains, “For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross . . .”

Jesus endured the cross because he knew the joy that his suffering would accomplish—the joy of redeeming mankind, the redeeming of creation back to the Creator. He also knew the joy it would bring His heavenly Father to bestow upon him the honor and glory for this work of redemption.

2. He prayed. In the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus was filled with great sorrow and deep distress, and what he was about to endure began to overwhelm him, he prayed a very honest, fervent, even anguished prayer:

“Father, take this cup from me. But not my will but your will.” (Luke 22:42)

After praying this prayer three times and praying so earnestly that his sweat mixed with blood, Jesus rose from this place of prayer strengthened in his spirit, with a resolve to be victorious in the face of the tsunami of adversity that lay before him. He rose from that place of prayer with his feet firmly planted on “higher ground,” the higher ground of the Father’s will.

And we need to do the same! When the tsunami of the world’s problems collide with the trials of our personal lives, we, too, need to bow our knees in prayer.  As we pray honest and earnest prayers, God will strengthen our faith, encourage our spirits, and fill us with an uncommon peace. He will plant our “feet” on higher ground.

And then like Jesus, we also need to keep our eyes on our eternal future. This world and all of its sorrow is temporary. It may feel permanent, but it is not. We stand on “higher ground” when our eyes stayed focused on our eternity, our eternal joy, instead being bound to the present and all its troubles.

I love the words of an old hymn penned by Johnson Oatman, Jr. in 1898. The lyrics still ring true for today:

Lord, lift me up and let me stand,

By faith on heaven’s table land,

A higher plane than I have found,

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.