Luke 1:18-20
Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this is going to happen? My wife and I are both very old.”
The
angel answered, “I am Gabriel, God’s servant, and I was sent to tell
you this good news. You have not believed what I have said. So you will
not be able to say a thing until all this happens. But everything will
take place when it is supposed to.”
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
The
children and I went swimming yesterday at our Aquatic Center. Timothy
asked if he could be on the local swim team someday. I told him
maybe…IF he learned to swim! I asked Timothy if he would like to remove
his life jacket and practice what he learned in swim lessons this
summer. He shook his head “no” and said, “I will drown!” I assured him
that he would not drown – that I would never let that happen to him. I
will always do my best to keep him safe. So he agreed to try, and with
the first “lap”, he sunk a little – and panicked a LOT!
We put
the life jacket back on...but before long, Timothy said that he would
like to try again to “swim” – but not so far this time. So we started
with very short distances of only a couple or three feet from me to the
wall and back. And soon, he was going farther…and even practicing his
breathing skills by pushing himself down to the pool floor and holding
his breath for several seconds. He was so proud of his progress and
asked me to please text his swim lesson teacher, Miss Amy, and let her
know that he can almost swim!
At one point, I said to Timothy,
“You really don’t trust me very much, do you?!” I reminded him that I
would never let anything bad happen to him if I could help it – in the
water or otherwise. And I reminded him that in order to learn to swim,
he had to try – and to trust me to help him stay afloat.
As
Gabriel talked with Zechariah, I have to imagine that God was
thinking…”You really don’t trust me very much, do you?!” I can tell
you, it gets a little exasperating at times when we are trying to
persuade one of the children to trust us and try something – a new food
or activity that we know they will enjoy or do well at…and they cannot
“cut loose” and see what happens. It must be that way – and then some –
for God when we fail to trust Him…when we continue to “worry” our
worries…when we won’t step out and try what He is calling us to do
because we are scared stiff of failure!
In these verses from
Luke 1, we are reminded that God blesses those who trust Him. I pointed
out to Timothy that “You cannot be on the swim team if you don’t know
how to swim!” And in life, there are many things that we cannot enjoy –
at least not as fully as God would like – because we refuse to trust
Him in all circumstances.
What are you holding back from God
these days? Where are you failing to be totally obedient…to give Him
your troubles and concerns…to trust Him to do what He has promised? Are
you ready to join His “swim team” and receive all of the blessings that
come along with it…or are you content to paddle around like a toddler
in a “puddle jumper” and live in the land of “good enough?” The choice
is totally yours…what will you decide to do?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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