My life has taken some crazy, scary turns the past few years. I have been faced with life changes that I never thought I could survive. There were times I was so discouraged, so defeated, that I felt like giving up. Worse yet, there were times when I knew that even as shaken as I was, there was still more coming. One of these times was getting ready to go on the Race. I was scared, nervous and so overwhelmed. When I prayed this is the picture that the Lord gave me. Hopefully it will help you.
In the picture, I was walking on a beach. I was right on the shoreline and I could see the water receding. When I looked out into the ocean, I saw this huge tidal wave coming right at me. I was petrified, but there was this sense that everything was going to be ok.
I knew this wave would hit me.
I knew it would hurt.
I knew it would turn me over and over.
I knew I would never look or be the same once it hit me.
And despite all this, I knew I would be ok.
I could run, but I wouldn’t be able to outrun the tidal wave because it was bigger than me. If I ran, I would increase the likelihood of getting hurt. What I needed to do was find the courage to stand and let it hit me.
The hardest thing I ever did in my life.
It did hurt.
It did turn me over and over.
But, what it also did was take me farther into the land (into the Lord) than I had ever been before. That tidal wave took me further, faster than I ever could have done on my own. Though it was hard and painful, that tidal wave carried me over obstacles that I never even dreamed up and set me down in a new, higher place.
When the water receded, I turned and I saw that the tidal wave had washed away everything that lay behind me. Even if I wanted to run back to the familiar, it was gone. There was no going back because there was nothing to go back to. All I could do was walk into what was ahead of me and not return to what was behind. The old was washed away and new was waiting.
I know sometimes the tidal wave looks ominous. The reality is that it is! It is crazy and scary and painful. But the Lord isn’t asking you to rebuke the wave or fight the wave or run from the wave. He is asking you to trust Him and find enough courage to stand and let it hit you. It may be scary and painful, but it will be worth it.
