Rough water

 I love to swim.  Here in Kona I swim from the pier and follow some buoys that are set about 1/4 mile apart. I LOVE to swim when the water is calm like a mirror and I think about God and his wonderful good creation as I glide through the water.  I usually avoid the ocean when it is choppy as the waves splash salt water in your mouth when you try to breath and it is a lot of work.

A few weeks ago I had been praying and felt very close to God before I went down to swim. When I got there the water was very choppy.  There was a big surge which is the huge surfing waves that roll in from distant storms.  Those waves were coming in from the South. There were big surface waved left over from a storm the night before. Those waves were coming in from the South West. Then there was a pretty good wind kicking up the tops of the other waves from the North. This meant that not only was the water very rough but that there was no rhythm or pattern.  Normally there would be no way that I would swim on such a day.  In fact there were only three other swimmers getting ready to go. (Usually there are a dozen or so swimmers at any one time.) 

I was feeling so connected to God that I got the message to go and swim anyway and have no fear.  I swam along completely relaxed and continued to think about God.  To my surprise I felt like I was gilding through the water as if it was flat. When I turned to go back at the 1.2 mile turn around it was amazing fun to go with the waves back home.  It was like one of the best carnival rides.  I had so much fun.  One of my best swims ever! The other three swimmers were rinsing the salt water off when I went to the shower.  One man was telling the couple that he had only gone to the 1/2 mile because it was so rough.  They said they had gone to the 1.2 turn around as I had and he told them that they were awesome.

The point is not that I had such a wonderful swim but that I learned to not be afraid of rough water. We see problems coming at us from lots of different sources and we try to go it alone and show that we are strong swimmers.  We wear out at the 1/2 mile like the man at the showers.  But if we relax because we know that we are going with God we not only can go far we can have a good time doing it. Don't worry about troubles (rough water).  Just say to God, "I am going to have fun going with you and I can't wait to see your grace expressed here."

Go with God and have fun.