Life's Deep End

“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” - Hebrews 13:6b

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” – Isaiah 41:10

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…” – Isaiah 43:2a

Below is a story from a book by Joyce Meyer:

"A little three year old girl felt secure in her father's arms as Dad stood in the middle of a swimming pool. But Dad, for fun, began walking slowly toward the deep end, gently chanting "Deeper and deeper and deeper" as the water rose higher and higher on the child. The girl's face registered increasing degrees of panic, as she held all the more tightly to her father, who, of course, easily touched the bottom. Had the little girl been able to analyze her situation, she'd have realized there was no reason for her increasing fear. The water's depth in ANY part of the pool was over her head. For her, safety anywhere in that pool depended on Dad. At various points in our lives, all of us feel we’re getting “out of our depth” or “in over our heads.” When bad things happen, our temptation is to panic, because we feel we’ve lost control. But the truth is we’ve never been in control when it comes to life’s most crucial elements. We’ve always been held up by the grace of God, our Father, and that won’t change. God is never out of His depth, and therefore we’re as safe when we’re in life’s “deep end” as we were in the kiddy pool."

I frequently hear (and read) people saying how important it is to be obedient to God in the little things in life. I have learned that God often reveals his plan little by little, step by step, as we obey him. Once He tells us to take step one, He is not going to tell us what step two is until we’ve obeyed him and taken the first step. I have always found this principle to be true, and I can appreciate its purpose. If we knew from the start what God had in store for us – all the steps we’d have to take - we’d probably be far too intimidated to even begin. When I think of this principle, I usually think in terms of small steps. However, while many times he does lead us one small step at a time, sometimes He requires a big step.

It takes so much faith to take big steps. If you fail when trying to take a small step, hardly anyone notices. You just jump back up and continue on your way. But if you fail while attempting a big step, it seems the world stops and everyone looks your way to see what just happened. Not only do people notice, but it’s much more difficult to get back up and back on track. I don’t think God will tell us to take big steps until we have proven that we can obey Him in the small ones. So I suppose we could consider it a privilege to be facing a big step – it means we have grown, and have demonstrated our ability to obey Him in the small things, so He is trusting us with more.

“Don't be afraid to take a big step. You can't cross a chasm in two small jumps.”

I recently came upon this quote by David Lloyd George. When God does call you to take a big step, you have to be willing to take the risk and make a huge leap, trusting God to help you land on your feet and in His arms. When I was a child I used to love to play in the mud puddles in our driveway when it rained. There was one that was larger than the others, especially after lots of rain. That was the best one. One of the things I liked to do was attempt to leap over this mud puddle. The thing about jumping over something is you have to totally commit if you want to have any hope of clearing the obstacle (puddle of muddy water, in this case). If you stand right beside the puddle’s edge, all the while doubting your ability, and then half-heartedly hop towards the other side, there is no way you’re going to make it. You’re going to land right in the middle of that mud puddle. If you want to be able to make it across, you have to get a good running start, and put everything you have into hurdling across it. Even if you don’t believe you can do it, you better find a way to bury those doubts, ignore your fears, and give it your all. Now I realize that taking big steps in life is not the same as jumping over mud puddles, but I liked the analogy.

Know that God is with you during each step He asks you to take, whether it’s a tiny baby step, or a gigantic leap of faith. And remember that there is no “deep end” and no reason to be afraid because we are being carried in our Father’s arms.