story
MATTHEW
BROMLEY
“I gave my gifts and talents to the Lord, and he multiplied them and empowered me to take little steps to get to the place where I am now, traveling the world and getting to surf some of the biggest waves on the planet.”
My name is Matt Bromley and I’m a professional big wave surfer. I track storms around the world and I surf the big waves that they create. I’ve got a little family: two baby boys and my wife. We live in Kommmetjie in Cape Town, South Africa.
I started surfing at around 12 years old and got into the big wave stuff a little bit later, around 16, 17. That’s when I really started to feel my heart on fire to chase big waves. When I surfed big scary waves I really felt, and still do, it is my calling in life. That God has got me right where He wants me. I feel this incredible sense of peace and purpose when I’m out there when it’s crazy scary and stormy.
I’m going to talk about the craziest adventure of my life. I’ll take us back to COVID times. I was sitting in my flat in Muizenberg and we’d been in lockdown for 11 months, so I had hardly surfed and hadn’t really surfed big waves or travelled at all. Suddenly this massive storm popped up on the forecast, heading straight for Jaws. Seeing this storm made me feel particularly scared, for a number of reasons.
Because we’d been in lockdown for so long and we hadn’t really been exposed to big waves for almost a year, I felt this serious doubt: whether I could still do it, whether I could travel, get out of my comfort zone and perform in big surf.
On top of that, looking at the swells, they were looking to produce waves close to 20 meters high at Jaws. Jaws is the ultimate big wave paddling spot in the world. It’s the place where I’ve had some of the most joy in my life, but also where absolute terror has struck through my whole body. The forecast was looking a little bit windy, which makes it all the more scary.
Travelling from Cape Town to Hawaii normally takes about 35 hours at least – that’s the shortest route. With COVID regulations, I would have to get a second COVID test in LA which was going to add an extra day of travel. I was looking at three full days of travel. With my flight plan, I was only able to arrive the night before the swell was hitting Jaws.
In that time, I’d have to shake off the jet lag and the discomforts of travel and then go and surf these huge waves the next day. It was far from ideal. Lastly, we had just found out that my wife, Jade, was pregnant with our first baby boy. The day that we were having the first scan, was the day that the swell was hitting Jaws.
I spent two days on my knees, so stressed out, just praying. On one hand I asked myself: What am I doing?? Why am I even thinking about travelling across the world, away from my family, arriving the night before to surf huge waves, without a proper sleep. We were about to have a baby. Is this stupid? Where do my priorities lie?
On the other hand, I was thinking: this looks like an incredible swell and an amazing opportunity to do what I believe I’ve been created to do, to surf these huge waves. After two days of stressing and deliberating, I felt like God was calling me to book the ticket and go. I found myself at the airport with two 10-foot boards in each board bag, chasing the storm across the world to Jaws.
The journey was an absolute nightmare. I was plagued with the most incredible anxiety, worries and vulnerability. I didn’t get any sleep. I was so aware that I needed to sleep and that I needed to arrive in good health to surf these waves, which added to the stress. When I eventually got to LA, I almost missed the COVID test and I got lost.
I finally got to my motel room in LA that night and couldn’t sleep again. I had these nightmares of drowning and wiping out and just everything going wrong. I phoned my wife in the middle of the night and was on the verge of tears. I felt so vulnerable and so, so scared. The next day I flew out to Maui and that evening I crawled into my tent on a friend’s lawn, where I was staying, 10 kilometres up the hill above Jaws.
I drifted off into a half sleep and woke up to the thundering sound of the swell that had arrived.There I was in my tent on the hill, under a little blanket, listening to these roars, these deep roars that would echo through my body and just make me so incredibly scared.
I just knew that the waves were going to be huge when I woke up that morning. My alarm went off at 5 a.m. and I checked in with my wife Jade before the big day. She sent me a little video of the baby scan and it was this little pea-sized object. It was pulsing, it had a heartbeat and I was feeling so low with emotion, so tired and so scared.
“I burst into tears. Here I was in this tent in the dark, crying my eyes out. I had never felt more alone or far away from my family. The last thing I wanted to do was surf these big waves.”
I burst into tears. Here I was in this tent in the dark, crying my eyes out. I had never felt more alone or far away from my family. The last thing I wanted to do was surf these big waves.
That’s when something really amazing happened. Every time I go out for big waves I try to start my day with a quiet time. I opened up my Bible and I just started reading. It was incredible how I went from being so scared, vulnerable and nervous to feeling the Holy Spirit fill me up. I just got this incredible sense of peace and sense of purpose.
I went from doubting my decision to suddenly feeling like I was exactly where God wanted me to be at that moment. I just knew that God was going to be holding me throughout the day. I couldn’t depend on my own strength that day because I was so jet-lagged and tired but I had this deep confidence that God was going to be there with me.
“I went from doubting my decision to suddenly feeling like I was exactly where God wanted me to be at that moment.”
As I went down to Jaws and I didn’t even look at the waves. I jumped straight into my inflation suit, ran down the cliff with my 10-foot board and paddled out. The waves were massive and firing. Many of the best big wave surfers were out there and I ended up getting one of the rides of my life.
Later that day I paddled into one of the biggest waves I ever had and probably the biggest wave of the day. It ended up being a session that I’ll never forget. Because of my performance on that day I was later invited to the Jaws Challenge.
The whole experience was an incredible testimony of relying on the Lord: having no plan B, nothing left to hold on to in terms of my own strength like and saying: “Lord, I need You.” He came through in the most powerful way, giving me an incredible story that I’ll keep telling for the rest of my life.
Why do you think God called to surf big waves?
Yeah, it’s interesting because I’m a professional big wave surfer, but I’m naturally a very conservative personality, I don’t like taking risks. My wife would tell you that I’m very conservative, but I’ve got an ability to trust the Lord.
I’m willing to surrender control and trust Him which is exactly what I need to do every time I go out there and surf the big waves. When I’m out there and it’s stormy and terrifying, I feel this incredible sense that God is holding me and He has got me right where He wants me and I’m doing what He’s created me to do and it’s an incredible thing to feel that.
Tell me a little bit about your normal Bible reading rhythms?
I’m a firm believer in starting the day with the right foundation. For me that’s opening up my Bible, reading a chapter and then meditating on it. I found that the most powerful things happen when I’m able to make time for God to move. When I’m quiet, when I open my heart and seek the Lord.
I’m very grateful for these situations when God has called me so far out of my comfort zone to serve these big ways. At home I still have amazing quiet times but when I’m on the road and I’m terrified because I’ve got to face huge waves, that’s when I really feel God working. That’s when I’m most desperate for Him to move and that’s when I’ve really had the most incredibly profound moments of the Lord speaking to me, telling me that He’s going to hold me in the palm of His hand. I’ve had my most powerful quiet times when I’m furthest away from my familiar ground.
“I’ve had my most powerful quiet times when I’m furthest away from my familiar ground.”
Do you have a verse in the Bible that you’ve held on to over time?
I always try to take a scripture with me into the water. It’s not the same every time but one that comes to mind Isaiah 41:10: Do not be afraid, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I’ll often sing worship songs like “The battle belongs to you” over and over in my mind. There’s so much power in our thoughts and words. When I’m out there fear is always knocking on the door, trying to creep in and when I sing that worship song in my mind over and over again, it pushes the fear back, re-focuses me on the Lord, giving me that courage. When nobody is around me I’ll sing it out loud.
