I wrote before about the vacation my family and I took to Austin (our state capital) when my husband had to attend a professional conference. The rest of us went with him, and we all stayed at a nice hotel. My kids still talk about that vacation, especially our youngest, Jessica (she’s 4). Every now and then, she says, “I wish we could attach our house to the hotel and live there forever.”
Her favorite part of being at the hotel was the pool. Even more often than wishing to attach our house to the hotel, Jessica says, “Can we go back to that place where they had the cold pool and the hot pool (a hot tub)?” She absolutely loved the pool, and so did the rest of the kids and I.
We spent several hours on a couple of different occasions playing in the pool and hot tub. For some reason, we were the only people at the pool both times—which was fine by me. It felt sort of like a private pool. I wasn’t always in the water with them, though. Sometimes, I sat on a nearby lounge chair and watched them.
Ever so often, one of the kids would check back in with me. “Mommy, are you watching us?” We are very conscious about pool safety, and I’ve made sure the kids know that they are never to swim unless there is an adult watching them closely.
“Yes, I’m still watching,” I would say. “I’m right here, just like I said I would be.”
Just like I said. As those words left my mouth one time, I could almost hear God speaking them to me. I’m right here. Just like I said I would be.
Just as my kids immediately felt more confident in their play upon realizing that Mommy was watching and would take care of them, I felt more secure upon hearing God’s words. God’s with me. He’s taking care of me right now. I can live confidently as long as God is watching.
Granted, sometimes bad things do happen to Christians. Christians aren’t immune from financial difficulties, sickness, or even death. But neither do Christians need to be afraid of living. We shouldn’t fear attempting new things when God is looking on in approval (and of course, having His approval is key). We shouldn’t be anxious about going out there and having a blast. There’s simply no reason to be afraid.
Mom, do you hold back from truly living because you’re afraid something might go wrong? Do you stay safely on the side of the pool because you’re afraid to venture into the water? Or are you willing to get into the water and have fun?
True, it was possible that one of my children could have mistakenly strayed into the deep end of the pool and needed rescuing. But I would have been there to perform the rescue. Likewise, if something goes wrong in our life, God has had a solution in mind since before the foundation of the world. He doesn’t want us to miss out on living because we’re afraid of what might go wrong. He wants us to remember that if something does go wrong (and eventually, that will happen, because we live in a fallen world), He will take care of it.
But not only that, He wants us to realize that He is not a mere observer on the side of the pool watching us live our lives. He is right there in the water with us. We don’t live life on our own. We live life with God right there, having fun with us when things go right, and ready to hold us up so we don’t drown as He puts His solution into place when things go wrong.
With such a God, why would we not fling ourselves into the pool and live? Why would we miss out on all the fun and everything God has planned for us because of fear? Especially when that fear is unrealistic, because nothing can happen to us that God isn’t prepared to handle?
Jump in, my friend. As long as you’re jumping into His arms, you have nothing to worry about.
Hebrews 13:6—the Lord is my helper and my salvation; I will not fear. What can mortal man [or life, or circumstances] do to me?