Going into the Deep

 When I was a kid, the local pool offered swim lessons. They were for a couple weeks in the months of June, July and August. Living near a lake as a kid, it was a necessity to know how to swim. When my siblings and I were old enough, my parents signed us up to take the swimming lessons. 

They went as those things do, we started off in the ‘kiddie’ pool. Putting our faces in the over-chlorinated water and blowing bubbles. Then, we moved on to practicing kicking our legs to move forward. Finally, we got to move our arms and legs in tandem. It was a loud and wet endeavor, but eventually, I was able to synchronize all my limbs and move from one end of the kiddie pool to the other. It was a moment of exhilaration for this non-sporty kid. 

At the very end of the lessons, our big reward was to jump into the deep end. The part of the pool that had been roped off and forbidden from us up to now. We all lined up anticipating this moment of being a “big kid”. Somehow jumping off a diving board into waters that we could only escape through our own prowess became the portal to aging. We had a choice, we could jump from the lower platform that bounced and gave you some height to do a flip or trick before entering the water, or we could jump off the high dive. There was no bounce because you were already touching heaven when you were up there. Plenty of room to flip a few times on your way down. Or do an epic belly flop like my brother did. I chose the lower platform. It was scary enough that I was jumping into deep waters. I got up there to the end and stalled. I didn’t like the wavy diving board. I didn’t completely trust the teenage lifeguard to
save me if I couldn’t make it out of the deep end on my own. 

But I did it. In the face of the fear and doubt, I jumped off that springy platform and landed in the cool refreshing waters of the deep end. It was dark and soothing in those depths. As I came up to the surface I heard clapping and exhilarated shouts. I made it over to the ladder and hauled my eight year old body back onto the hot concrete. And I got back in line to do it again. 

Isn’t that life? We step a toe into the water. We take the class to learn the steps. We go to school for a degree. Then the next step comes. The one where we have to apply what has been learned in the deep end of life. There may be helpers. Or managers that are there for guidance, but ultimately it comes down to you. A choice has to be made between jumping off a low platform or a high one. Or to even jump at all. However, some type of choice must be made. Will it be made with fear and trepidation that leads to an avoidance? Or will it be made bravely in the face of that fear? 

How I move forward in life is completely up to me. And it is for you. I chose to walk forward not in my own confidence, but in that of the God who already knows the path. He is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path. When I enter the deep waters of the unknown. When I join up to collaborate with people more experienced than I am, and when I say yes and don’t know the details I do so with the voice of the One guiding me. Not with blind, ignorant belief everything will be fine. I do so because I have seen His work in my life already. I do so because I know Jesus who loves me completely has already prepared in advance the work for me to do. That even when the jump takes me to a dark place, in the end my Rescuer will come with a light to guide me home.