Lessons From My Nephew

Over the past couple years I have had a few chances to watch my nephew learn to swim. This was a long process that involved many tears. For the longest time he would not stray far from the wall of the pool or allow his parents to let go of him. He needed some safety guard in place to protect him. While we would chuckle and say someday he will get over this, I often wondered if he really would. My nephew’s fear of being let go was so strong there were times I believed his stubbornness would not allow him to overcome this fear. I find myself relating to this situation. Am I so stubborn and afraid to let go of the control I have over my life that I will never let God have full reign? Will I constantly hold on to the side of the pool or only go in ankle deep? Oh I hope not! One of my deepest desires is to recklessly abandon myself to God’s will. Am I confident that God’s plans for me are bigger than anything I could set for myself? Absolutely! Am I confident I will not get in His way? Absolutely not! There is a statement that says “know thyself”. I do know myself and I know that I am a control freak and the moment things start to look iffy I will take back those reigns and try to make everything more comfortable. 

But would I really be comfortable? Probably not. While I spend most of my life hanging out by the side of the pool, I am missing out on everything God has to offer. There is an entire pool of life that God has planned for me to experience and daily I choose to float by the edge. Too scared to let go and fully convinced life is better the way I have planned it. Why? Because letting go might mean floating with my head just above water and that is uncomfortable. Well guess what? Sometimes trusting God means being uncomfortable. There may be times when life does not go how you think it should go. You may not get the job that seems like the perfect fit. Your housing situation may be awful. (AMEN!)  Or maybe you just are not happy. I’m learning that God never said you would be comfortable, in fact He said the opposite. Living God’s will means letting go and living with His end goal in mind. This is going to take work. You will have to practice and you will fail. There will be times where you will flounder with your head just above water and there will be times you flourish.  I really don’t want to miss out on what God has planned for me, so I let go of the side of the pool. It won’t be easy. I will learn to be content when I am uncomfortable, because this is what God has called me to.  Want to join me? 

(For those of you that are concerned, my nephew can now swim by himself!)