The Deep End

[Steve Myers] As a seven-year-old do you know what the scariest thing in the world for me was? It was the deep end. Seven years old, I was taking swimming lessons. I had no idea how to swim, that side of the pool was scary. I didn't want to go over there because I was sure to drown. There were big kids over there, they would probably push me under. It was a scary thought to think, "I'm supposed to go over there?" But that was the whole point of swimming lessons, to learn the deep end is where the fun is. That's where you actually have to swim and you can enjoy it. And, so I had to learn how to swim in order to take on the deep end. Now growing up and yet there's still is the deep end. Not just of the pool, but there's the deep end of life. And sometimes we can become frightened of the deep end, of stepping out in faith, in taking a risk. Because God has called us in one sense to step out in faith and take that risk of faith. 

There's a powerful passage in the book of Ecclesiastes. Sometimes we overlook this passage, but I think it's an interesting one because it makes this very point. In fact, it's in verse four. Ecclesiastes 11:4. Here's what it says, "He who observes the wind will not sow. He who regards the clouds, will not reap." Of course, this is a farming analogy. In other words, if you're always so worried about the rain, you'll never get anything done. How in the world are you going to reap a crop if you never get it planted? As a seven-year-old, how was I ever going to get out there and really enjoy the water unless I learned how to swim and jump in the deep end? You have to take that on, and so God's pointing us in that direction of faith as well. When we trust him, when we put our confidence in him, we can take on the deep end of life. 

And so let's have that very perspective. Don't be stuck in the shallows, take that leap of faith, do that cannonball of faith, step out with God's direction and you can jump into the deep end of life.

That's BT Daily. We'll see you next time.