holymeetsordinary An Ordinary Woman Ponders a Great God

Years ago, I took my boys and their friends to the Atlantic coast for a vacation. One late afternoon I sat in a chair in the sand and assumed a mother/life guard posture as I watched active boys splashing in the wild ocean waves. They were not in deep water, but after a while I could see the tide shifting and the waves becoming more vigorous, so I motioned for them to come to shore. They came out immediately, except for one boy. I stood and yelled for him to come to shore, but within a few minutes the water had become rough and he was floundering and fighting to keep his head above water. I ran into the ocean and when I reached him I realized we were in the middle of an ugly rip current. I grabbed on to him and struggled to bring us to shore. With every stroke forward the waves forced us back even further, with the undertow yanking us down. It was sheer panic for more minutes than I would like to remember. I clung to this child, and with every ounce of mother-lion strength I unsuccessfully fought to make it to shore. Finally, the waves slammed us into the rocks of a jetty, and we were able to grab hold and crawl up to the beach – bleeding and exhausted – but relieved to be out of the water.

I don’t know if any of you have ever been caught in a rip current. I had not prior to that day, but I had been instructed what to do if it occurred. However, as I was thrashing in the waves, I did NOT do as I had been instructed. Some of you may know this: When you are caught in a rip current, you do not try to fight the waves and head straight to shore. Instead, you turn your body and float or swim parallel to the shore. Eventually, you will float gently out of the rip current and then be able to swim to the shore in calm waters. It’s true. The literature, the old-timers, the experts all tell us what to do. But, I did not trust those instructions, because – well – it seemed so passive, so counter intuitive. I was afraid to believe, and I felt the responsibility of saving a child, so I relied on my own limited strength instead of turning my body and trusting that we would gently be led out of the rip current.

Our Christian walk can be that way. We know we are to have faith. We are told our Lord is strong and powerful, that he loves us, delights in us, and will redeem anything we endure. We espouse this truth, but too often instead of trusting Him, I rely on my own strength to fight against life’s challenges. If only I would turn – turn and let Jesus peacefully carry me out of the struggles. It can feel so passive and counter-intuitive to trust God and not float with the waves of our human instincts, our culture, our intellect, and especially our deep down fears.
Sometimes I like to think of the Cross as a rescue tool—like the long pole that the lifeguards use. The Cross of Christ reaches down to us no matter how low or how far away we are from God’s will. We simply need to grab on, hold tightly, and trust that He will guide us through any crisis.
This life can feel overwhelming, and we tend to futilely expend our strength to scramble to the shore – to what appears to be a quick safety, a swift solution. But if we listen we might hear Jesus say “that is not the way – Turn – Hang on to me – I AM the way.

Trust Him – turn to Him – grab on to Him – He is the way – He is the truth – He is the life.