Don’t you just love summer? I love the colors, the sounds, and the tastes of summer, but most of all I love how everyone seems to be outside during the summer. I am a people person and I love to talk with people or just people watch. I find them intriguing.
I was passing the swimming pool just the other day and saw parents trying to teach their toddler how to swim. The father was on one side of the swimming pool with his arms stretched out, a huge smile on his face, and he was encouraging his son to go for it. The mother was holding the boy on the other side of the pool, trying to pry him off of her so she could launch him towards his father. The boy had a totally different plan. He had one arm wrapped in a death grip around his mother’s neck and the other one around her arm and he was holding on for dear life. I am certain the mother would walk away with some physical reminder of her attempt to teach her son to swim. I had to laugh, because I remember going through the process….twice. My daughter made this toddler look like a rookie in survival techniques. I swear she grew two more arms to help her hold on. She had me in a tight grip.
This picture reminded me of how some of us are in life. Our Heavenly Father is standing in front of us with His arms stretched wide, a huge smile on His face, and is encouraging us to go for it and we are too afraid to try. Why do we attempt to stay on the safe side of the pool of life? Do we not know our Lord will be there to grab us if we start to sink [Matthew 14:22-32]? He will not leave us totally on our own [Deuteronomy 31:6, 8, Joshua 1:5].
The enemy is constantly trying to tell us we will fail if we try. He taunts us with lies about what could happen or what should happen [Psalm 10:7]. So who are we going to believe, the father of lies [John 8:44] or the one who loved us enough to send His Son to die in our place so we would not perish but have everlasting life with Him [John 3:16]? At every crossroads we face, every tough situation, we must choose who we will believe and who we will serve. Will we stay on the side of the pool out of fear or will we lock eyes with our Father and dive in?
The little boy’s father was there to catch him if he started to sink. He loved his son. It was obvious by the open arms, the expression on his face and the words he was speaking to him. You could tell how desperately the father wanted the boy to trust him. The father knew once his son let go and tried to do what he was calling him to do, a whole knew world would open up to his son. He would be able to swim and have hours and hours of fun with his friends. Learning to swim would provide a form of exercise to strengthen his body and it might even save his life one day, should he ever fall into a pool, lake or the ocean. The Father knew all of these things. The boy only knew he was afraid and his daddy was asking him to do something hard.
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” [Proverbs 3:5-6] “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…..as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” [Joshua 24:15] It’s time to dive in!