Believing in the deep end

It is easy to believe you can swim when you are paddling around in the shallow end of the pool.  In a moment of panic you can put your feet down and touch the solid bottom again.

Deep water requires a very different level of confidence.  You cannot see the bottom in the deep end; you cannot keep your head above water and touch bottom at the same time.  It's one or the other. 

We live our lives in deep water - where much is unclear, outcomes are uncertain and we can either cling to the solid floor of what we know or we can keep our heads above the splashing water.  Neither approach will work for long. 

Eventually we will have to move our arms, paddle our feet and push out into the deep in order to get to the other side.  Water will splash in our face, we'll catch a mouthful or two of water but we will both move forward and be (here's the prize) held up by the water.

A life of faith is much like swimming in deep water: we push against the forces around us which try to pull us down (even though the most perfect swimming stroke does not prevent some water from mouth or eyes). Real effort is required to keep moving toward a safer shore. Pretending the water isn't deep will not make it so nor take the danger away.

We swim in deep waters.  We need a deep water God.  Shallow theology will prove to be ineffective while deep water will challenge us to trust (another way of saying 'believe'). 

The cross is the way Jesus said, "I'm there with you in the deep water" because there is nothing deeper than that moment when you must release this life and lean into the promises of God for the next.   Jesus stepped into the water of the River Jordan to show us he was willing to swim every step of the way with us.  Cling to that Jesus.