Let Go!

     

         (Designbloom.com image)

     You already know I love the ocean, and there are times I've been there and not even wet my toes. Just to watch it and listen to it, while breathing in its healing air, is a wonderful gift. But to fully experience its power and majesty, you have to let go of all that anchors you to the ground, fall back, feet up, arms splayed ("cruciform," as Ann Voskamp would say!), and trust it to hold you afloat. It defies logic, really, that mere water and salt could hold up a body of 100, 200, 300 pounds of flesh and bones, not to mention those monstrous steel vessels full of people sailing to exotic locales or cargo supplying the world's cravings. 

       I've been suspended beneath the waves in SCUBA gear, and the wonders below the sea's surface are indeed marvelous to behold. But the fact is, it was not freeing like  letting go to be carried on top of the waves. Instead, it was a matter of being weighed down, not just with the burden of tank, vest, mask & fins, but also weights. These had to be carefully adjusted to achieve the perfect balance between sinking to the bottom and floating to the top, until I hung suspended with the fish above the corals and sea fans. The sensation is often compared to the weightlessness of space, IF, that is, perfect equilibrium is achieved. 

      I confess, though, that I always preferred the freedom of floating atop the waves, trusting the buoyancy of the water to hold me completely relaxed in its embrace. Could it be the encumbrance of man-made equipment reminded me of all my human efforts at keeping my life in balance? A heavy burden, indeed, to think saving my life depends on my own efforts!

      I remember as a child, when my parents were teaching me to trust the water, they would keep telling me, "Relax, my arms are right under you, but the water will hold you if you just completely relax." Then I imagine lying on top of the water with God's arms underneath, fully letting go and trusting Him, and I suddenly see Jesus on the cross, completely surrendered to His Father's will. It was only at that moment that He came into His full power, the power over life and death. 

      Everyone knows a drowning man struggling to stay above the surface is actually fighting his rescuer as well as the buoyancy of the water. Perhaps I've been trying to keep myself afloat, or suspended between the surface and the ocean floor. All the while I've weighed myself down with unnecessary burdens, burdens that were  keeping me from floating on waves of trust in the full sunlight of my Creator Who knows me and loves me better than I know or love myself. Perhaps, as the old chorus says, I need to "Let go and let God have His wonderful way." 

     "Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous be shaken." (Psalm 55:22 BSB)

      

      "Commit your way to Yahweh, and trust in Him, and He does it."  (Psalm 37:5, The Scriptures. Emphasis mine.)

"He must increase and I must decrease."

John 3:30 ✝️