“Stop relying on your strength...The water is here for you. It’s stronger than you are. Let it do the work. Try again this time with less you and more water.”
Right now, I am taking my time reading a book called Chasing Slow by Eric Loechner, and I am soaking so much from it. I am finding myself enjoying moments rather than rushing to the plans that I think will create worthy memories. Every moment is a gift, and we miss out on so much, because we are always chasing more and not giving ourselves permission to live in contentment. I find myself living 10 years ahead in my mind, and living with that kind of stress and worry about the future is not a way to live.
Erin speaks about this feeling of needing to "paddle fast enough" to "overcome life's ambiguity with sheer will, force of mind" (Loechner). We were not called to live with the pressure of forging success in our lives. This is pressure that we should not live with, and I believe it is not God's heart for us to live with this much anxiety and stress.
Erin has embraced such a refreshing mentality:
"I begin to learn to allow things to happen as they are, rather than how I want them to be. I begin to learn quite simply, the art of peace" (Loechner).
Sometimes when we accept the ambiguity of life, we can then experience the peace of God; we are no longer paddling against the waves, trying to force it to behave a certain way to give the results and outcomes that we want. We are letting the water do its natural work. We trust that it will carry us - stopping the frantic swimming. Allow God to be God in your life by letting go of the need to have full control or having everything figured out so far in advance. Enjoy the journey by trusting that God will carry you through.
TAKE AWAY:
1. God desires to carry us through whatever we are facing. We just need to let go and let God be God by allowing yourself to be carried.
MEDITATION:
“But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
DAILY CHALLENGE:
1) Many people may see the act of surrender in water as weakness, but it is the first step to be carried. What is an area in your life that you can give up the control and constant anxiety?
2) How can you trust God to carry you more in this area? What can you do to be carried more by Him in this area?