Women lying face up in a swimming pool

 

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Ferocious faith in your lungs

10 February 2018
‘Straining toward what is ahead, I press on.’

Remember how terrifying swimming lessons were at first? You might not want to hear it, but developing your faith is just the same. Fear’s like water. If you let it, it will take you under. Faith’s the air in your lungs. It will sustain you and keep you afloat if you just relax. Have you ever watched a seasoned swimmer? Stroke after stroke, he takes what’s in front of him and pushes it behind him, letting it propel him toward his goal. He literally takes what stands between him and his goal, and uses it to get there. Sometimes we despair and say, ‘I’m just keeping my head above water,’ and that’s okay as long as you keep taking strokes and pressing on. It’s in those times when you feel backed into a corner, with nowhere to turn, that you’ve got to take hold of faith in God and keep moving forward. Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it’ (Matthew 11:12 NIV). The word ‘violent’ means these are people with ferocity, passion, and intensity. You must be relentless and fight your way through, confident that God’s on your side (Psalm 56:9 NIV). The water you’re in doesn’t determine your destiny; it either carries you to it, or it takes you under. It takes faith to keep going. When you quit, God won’t do anything more for you. You’ve taken yourself out of the game. So today, whether you’re doing the breaststroke, the backstroke, or some other kind of stroke that nobody’s heard of – keep pressing on.

 

What now?

If you’re fighting through today, take a moment to ask yourself this question: am I fighting in panic and in my own strength, or am I fighting from faith?

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