Welcome to another week of our Everyday Jesus link-up. Be sure to link-up below this post, comment on your neighbor’s blog and share with your friends… Because Jesus is everywhere, every day!
***
I knew when I started out, this wasn’t going to end the way I expected.
A few weeks ago, I went for a run. It was the perfect temperature– 52 degrees, 9am in the morning at the tail of our lovely Pacific Northwest summer. It was SUPPOSED to be a long run, one of my longest to date.
However, about ten days prior I caught a cold. Which, as a former asthmatic, has a tendency to make a pit stop in my lungs.
My “normal” life taskings were doing ok and I was feeling mostly fine, but something about my need to use my lungs to run any distance at all, let along long distance, was going to pose an issue.
I was about one mile in when I knew for sure that my run was just not going to happen the way I planned.
I slowed my shuffle to a heavy-footed walk. I blinked back tears of frustration. In just a few short weeks, I was supposed to run my first-ever marathon. I was pretty attached to my training schedule, and all I could think about was if I could still do it.
As a recovering perfectionist, I wrestled with my “failure.” I walked on the familiar trail, talking with God. I rounded the corner and came into the clearing. My “thinking” log was right there at the edge of the lake.
My mind flashed back to almost a year to date when I sat on that log, talking with the Lord about my fitness goals, struggles and how back then it nearly determined the worth of my day and threatened to become an idol in my life.
I paused by my log and had the following conversation:
Me: Lord, I am sorry I am right back here where I was almost a year ago. I know I am not defined by what I do, but I guess I am just such a slow learner. How do you want me to respond?
God: Go jump in the lake.
Me: Well, geez, Father… That’s a little harsh don’t you think? I mean…
God: Seriously. Go jump in the lake.
Before I could second (or third?) guess what I heard, I laughed out loud. I kicked off my running shoes and socks, looked out over the deserted beach area to the crystal clear, glass-like surface of the lake. I yelled a very loud, “Ok, God… If you insist!” and plunged into the water.
The moment the water splashed over my shoulders, something inside of me burst. Joy. Pure, unadulterated joy. The burdens of “failure” and performance worship melted away like water of the back of the mallard duck who was keeping me company.
For the next twenty minutes, I swam.
I enjoyed the solitude. The water was clear and I could see all the way to the bottom. I watched the minnows swim around my feet. I peered at the smooth lake rocks that littered the bottom. I bobbed up and down, floated on my back, laughed out loud and praised God with each breath.
That morning, as I dusted the wet sand off my feet and walked the half-mile back to the house barefooted and dripping wet in my running clothes, I knew I had encountered Jesus in my everyday.
Sometimes, when God says to jump in a lake, we might just need to take it literally.
Plunging after Christ,
“The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it.” ~1 Corinthians 2:10-11 MSG
Loading InLinkz ...
