fight or float??

recently i've been in a bible study on thursday nights with a wonderful group of friends. we're reading through "experiencing God" by henry t blackaby...some of you may remember this book from years ago, but good ol' henry revised, updated and gave a bit of a face lift to his previous edition and had his son work with him...awesome...

the last book we went through was by lee strobel, "the case for the creator", it was a difficult road, and i missed several chapters of scientific knowledge that i probably would have scratched my head and attempted to look intelligent through my confusion, but those of you that know me, would probably understand that this particular way to learn about God, is really not my cup of tea...yet, the discipline of actually finishing the book, now sheds a fresh perspective on our new reading, i would liken the two books in my mind to running a marathon, hitting the wall, and c r a w l i n g over the finish line with lee strobel, and comparing "experiencing God" to lounging in the sun on a tropical beach somewhere and simply absorbing these concepts... YES...

so, the reference to fight or float? how do we experience God, i decided that a word picture is always a good way for me to relate to what God has for me. it seems quite often the bible uses water references; baptism, walking on water, Jesus calming the storm, good GRIEF we even have jonah in a whales belly...all water references and locales (well the whales belly might be a stretch but where else would the whale BE??)... anyway, have you ever thought about when you're in a really difficult situation and you're literally wrestling with God, or life, or some type of decision that is pulling you every which way? this would be like a rip tide, something that could pull you under, especially if you fight!... then you have treading water, you don't go anywhere, but you keep your head above water and you basically sustain your life (but it's SOOOO tiring...) this would be complacency, going through the motions and still trying to do things on your own... lastly, what about just laying back in the water and letting it buoy you up and sustain you while you simply relax and float...effortless, supported by unseen hands, hmmm...this is the spot, this is where i want to be, i want to float and depend on God...

Psalm 46:10 says, "be still and know that I am God"... these eight little words have quite a punch to them, each one significant...
BE; exist, live, thrive, state of being.
STILL: devoid or abstaining from motion
KNOW: to be aware of the truth; certain, actuality

fighting life's riptides, treading the mundane exhausting daily waters, or trust God and float...be still and know...i think i'll choose to lay back and let the cool water of God's love soothe my floating soul...