Wednesday, July 18, 2012

trust

It is funny the things that God uses to teach me.  Yesterday it was something that happened with Drewie. 

We have been given an open invitation to use the pool of someone who works at our church and lives down the street.  It was so hot yesterday and I told the kids we would go to the pool just for an hour or less.  It was so refreshing!  

As I was watching the kids I realized that it was time for Andrew to learn to swim.  He has not had many opportunities over the last few years to be in or around water and just has never learned.  I explained to him how it was dangerous to not know how to swim and I wanted to teach him.  I got in the water and told him that I would help him.  His first reaction was absolute panic.  He was so afraid and as I was holding him he started to yell.  He was saying that I might drop him, that I might take him into the deep end, what if he drowned??  All of this(and more!) was said in a total panic scream while I was holding him so that his feet weren't touching the bottom.  I don't blame him for his response- he was terrified!  I told him that I would gently let his feet down as soon as he trusted me enough to stop screaming.  He finally did.  By the end of our little session he was using a boogie board to go from one side of the shallow end to the other and he even swam under water a couple of times.  He was so happy and thanked me over and over while apologizing for not trusting me.

Later on that evening, it occurred to me that as long as he didn't trust me he was really incapable of learning what I was trying to teach him (which was something that would benefit him and make him much happier and safer).  Once he trusted that I wouldn't let anything bad happen to him, we really enjoyed our time together and he took a huge first step in learning how to swim.

That is just like my relationship with God.  SO OFTEN I look at the "deep water" around me and at what I am sure will be the death of me- all the while screaming inside in total panic.  I need to remember that during those times God is holding me so my feet don't touch the bottom and is telling me to trust Him.  Once I get to the point where I totally trust Him, I can learn what He is trying to teach me- which will benefit me and make me happier and safer.  Ultimately that will bring glory to Him which is what I want my life to do.

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4 comments:

melanie said...

I love this. What a good lesson to learn from. And so glad that Andrew conquered his fears and is doing better in the water! That is great. Thanks for sharing this!

Kari said...

So *so* true! Glad to see all of you thriving "up north!"

rachellechaseblog said...

wow. love it.

Susanna said...

Right there with you! Learning to trust...and 3 big kids start swim lessons tomorrow. :)