Last Summer our youngest daughter swam like a fish. No issues with going under water, just joy as she went below, and up like a mermaid.
I watched in complete shock as my two year old swam like a ten year old. Flawless, effortless. Freak of nature.
As she approached the pool this Summer she appeared apprehensive. To my dismay she wouldn’t even touch the water in the shallow end.
” Baby girl, last Summer you jumped right in and swam like a big girl! Do you remember that?!”
” No ! I’m scared!”
I felt for her. I knew how much she loved swimming. My heart wanted her to enjoy it again.
( maybe you’re praying for someone who seems to have forgotten how good Jesus’s presence is. It’s a similar feeling.)
Hey , you used to love this! It made you so happy! Please remember!
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It’s taken weeks to get her comfortable swimming with floaties, let alone swimming to me on her own. Part of me is sad she’s forgotten the joy of swimming, and part of me understands her struggle.
In the winter she was cold, bundled up in her four walls, and soon She forgot how to swim.
I’ve recently forgotten how to swim as well, in my cold season of retreat.
Allowing myself, never on purpose to become cold. Tainted by life’s struggles, and cocooned in my spiritual house like a recluse.
In the winter months we all tend to be safer. Try to stay warmer, and keep to ourselves more. It’s the warmth that seems to bring people together, out into the world.
It’s the same with our harder seasons in life. We can become bitter about lives happenings, and griefs that we forget how good it feels to dive into a pool.
That was me for a few weeks. Cold, refusing to come out of my shell. I was safe in there.
In our walk with the lord it’s always a plus to have a friend or two that sharpens your iron every once in a while. That comes along Side you and examines your actions with grace and mercy. But , they call your butt out.
Luckily for me, I have a dear friend that does this for me in seasons where I need my butt kicked into gear. When I need to wake up , and start reminding myself how much I love summer, even when my
Physical body feels so cold.
She said to me:
” Rach, you’ve cut his voice off. He allows you to see heaven! Let him back in! He’s safe.”
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That was my wake up call. It was then I realized I loved swimming. What I loved even more was diving in.
Swimming brings feelings of refreshment and release of stress and fear. Just as being in his presence does.
When life is cold to us, it’s easy to forget what that feels like, or to ever trust again that you will enjoy or even get the opportunity to swim. Much less dive in.
That’s why we must live by faith. Muscle memory if you will.
So that during the winter months in our walk with him, we can trust that summer is coming soon.
We may forget, just like Adah , what it is like to swim. To jump, to Play… But we must try.
We must try to remember, even when our circumstances are telling us it’s winter, we must try to swim again.
To bask in the sun of his presence. You see, Satan wants us bound up. Our memories erased from what it’s like to enjoy his presence.
Let’s not allow that. Even when you begin to feel closed off, starting your own little fire in your cozy cabin, remember to invite Jesus in. It’s his desire for us to hear his voice and walk in freedom .
Jump in that water, I swear you loved it last year. Try to remember what that felt like, and soon you won’t have to try…
You. Will. Be. Refreshed.