Sunday, April 18, 2010

Again I say...BE!


I gotta say it again and again, until I hear what is being said. It is our job to show up, so that God can use us. We are not to "make it happen.” In fact, when we do try to make it happen, it hampers God's ability to do the work through us. Now I'm not saying that we can keep God from doing whatever He wants to do. I am saying that we can help so much that it hurts. I use to be a lifeguard, and I remember that when I was learning how to save someone that you have to sneak up behind them. At first, I thought that was strange, but it makes sense. There they are, thrashing around wildly, trying as hard as they can to not drown and to help you see them. Good grief, what a sight that is! You swim out to them yet far enough away that they can't get at you. You dive down in front of them, take hold of their knees and turn them around so that they are facing away from you and come to the surface facing their back. Throw your arm over their chest, carry their body on your hip, and you sidestroke to safety. If you come up in front of them, guess what happens—down you go, with them standing on your head. It is just plain hard to help them when they are trying so hard to do it themselves.
God feels this way with us when we try to make it happen. We pray, then we get out there in the fight, thrashing around wildly and we do everything we can to be in his will, when all he really wants is for us to just be. You can't float if you fight wildly to do it. You have to put all your weight on the water and relax. Then God comes up and puts his hand on your back and moves you where he wants you. It's that's easy and that hard! The cool thing about this is we all have to learn to float. It's not a skill that we are born with. We find it hard to trust. I'm sure that comes from the Fall. We all have to be saved at one time or another in our lives, and our hope is that someone has already gone through the thrashing and understands that we are struggling. We need encouragement from one another that we aren't going to drown, that yes, it is hard to trust and relax, but in the end, it is so worth it! Here—let me show you how it was for me and how I made it through to the other side. Let's start by taking a deep breathe. Now let it out.

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