The Deep End
As a child, I was frightened by many things - the dark, loud noises, and spiders just to name a few...(okay, okay, I admit it, that last one still gets me...). But there was one thing, one treacherous thing, which instilled in me a stronger fear than anything else. One thing which made my insides tremble. One thing that I dreaded the thought of more than anything else: the deep end.
Oh, I loved to swim. But as soon as my toes could no longer touch the bottom, I would start to panic. There was something about the security of knowing that I could stand up on my own.
As I've grown older, I'm no longer scared of the deep end. However, I've discovered that in my spiritual walk, I'm a lot like the 6-year-old me in a swimming pool. I tend to shy away from the deep end.
Where I can't touch.
Where I am helpless if my own strength fails.
Yet, the more I learn about Christ, the more I realize He calls His followers to the deep. He calls us to more than we can take. He calls us to places, people, and situations which are too much for us to handle on our own. Why? So we can press into Him and learn the sufficiency of His strength. He calls us to the deep so we can experience Him.
Paul said, "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:8). Knowing Him. That's the goal. We know Him more as we experience Him more. His power. His love. His grace. The way that He meets us in our struggle.
Our "deep ends", the places we find ourselves and feel we are too weak to make it on our own, are not meaningless. No, they are what allow us to know Christ more intimately. Maybe we don't have to just endure suffering. Scripture doesn't just talk about enduring it. It speaks of rejoicing in our trials.
Charles Spurgeon once said "I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages."
Kiss the waves, the struggles, the things which force you to run to God.
Sometimes the edge of the pool, safety, seems so far away. Other times, we're not even given the luxury of seeing the edge, we're simply asked to trust His leading. These...these are the times I have to believe God won't let me drown. Maybe struggle, maybe tread water, but only enough that I call out to Him and He'll come. Just like He offered His hand when Peter cried out. No, He won't let us drown.
Like a little blue fish once said, "Just keep swimming."
What deep is He calling you to? Is it a college or a job, is it mending a severed relationship or a health issue? Whatever it is, go for it.
That thing you need to do,
that person you need to talk to,
that wrong you need to right,
that place you need to go,
that apology you need to give,
whatever it is, do it.
Face your deep.
No, don't just face it; dive in, cannonball, front flip into the water with confidence that the One Whose voice calms the waters is in the waves with you, He won't let you drown, and you'll come out on the other side with a greater understanding of who He is. And that's worth more than anything.
