Surfing and Suffering

I almost drowned once.  It was a beautiful afternoon for playing on the beach.  The water was warm and inviting.  But I got in over my head, and, before I knew it, panic set in.  The same waters which produced exhilaration generated exhaustion...just to survive.  I'm thankful God brought me through the waters, literally.

Oswald Chambers explains,  "The surf that distresses the ordinary swimmer produces in the surf-rider the super-joy of going clean through it.  Apply that to our own circumstances, these very things-tribulation, distress, persecution, produce in us the super-joy; they are not things to fight.  We are more than conquerors through Him in all these things, not in spite of them, but in the midst of them."

I'm reminded of what God says to his children in Isaiah 43:1-2

But now, this is what the Lord says — 

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 

2 When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

Do we approach the turbulent waters of life like a surfer or survivor?  The difference may determine the extent of our joy.  Surfs-up!