Last summer, I had the privilege of volunteering at my church during VBS. It was a super fun week filled with many songs, stories, characters, and new friendships. I can’t remember specifically what all the stories and everything was, but there was one particular thing that stuck with me. There was a phrase that we would yell every time the theme for the day was mentioned. It was 2 simple words: HOLD ON! After VBS was over, it became a phrase that my friends and I would bring up as a joke.
Well here’s the thing. On the race, those words have been sweeping back into my life a lot lately. And it’s not so much of a joke these days.
One of the last days I was in Malawi, I was sitting on the beach in the afternoon just spending some time with the Lord. And I got this vision from the Lord. It was me and the Lord and we were at the ocean. We were starting to wade out into the water together. As we got deeper, the waves started to become a bit stronger. So I began to cling to the Lord, like a child holds on to their mom or dad when they don’t know how to swim and are afraid of going under. That was me. The further we got, the tighter my grip got, trying to make sure my head stayed above water when the waves came crashing in. After a while, we didn’t go any deeper. But the Lord looked at me and said, “Hold on. But also know that I’m going to teach you to swim. I won’t let go until you know how to swim in these waves.” Wait, what? And then it all started to click and fall into place.
Now if you’ve been following my blog, you may remember a blog I wrote at the new year. It was about the song “In Over My Head” and how that seemed to be what the Lord was speaking over my year. If you didn’t read it, you can check it out HERE. In fact, I would encourage you to go back and read it. There’s some lines in it that talk about the waves crashing over me and being in waters I’ve never been before. Ah! I just love that song.
The Lord continues to speak into that song for my life this year. There are moments where I feel like I’m in still waters. But there’s also times where it seems like I’m being crashed over by these huge waves. No matter what, the Lord is telling me to hold on. That He isn’t going anywhere. And there’s different kinds of waves and waters because He is teaching me to rely on Him to stay afloat and also learn to swim.
The different trials and lessons on the race are my waves and waters. At first, they seem so overwhelming and I’m not sure what to do so all I can do is hold on to the Lord. But then He shows me how to swim. He builds my strength so I can swim and not sink. And I make it through the wave, knowing that there are going to be more to follow.
But the best part is that He continues to hold fast to His promise. I am in new places that I’ve never been before. Facing new waters. But it’s okay because He is there with me. Asking me to hold on and not let go until I’m ready. And continually He’s proving to be so faithful. I am going deeper this year, but I know without a doubt and trust that He’s not going to let go or leave me stranded. Just continually asking me to HOLD ON as we go deeper into our relationship and continue on this journey this year. To not panic, but rest in who He is and His love towards me to not let me sink.
When trials and waves come crashing into your life, who or what are you holding on to? Is it the Lord, or is it someone or something else? Praying that the Lord shows you His goodness and that you find your way to hold on to Him.
