Faith Is Like Swimming
by Author Regina Walker
James 1:3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
We’ve been playing at the lake a lot recently. We even take our horses with us to swim. (Which is my absolute favorite summer activity, just so you know.) It amazes me that these large creatures are as buoyant as they are.
I made the mistake of thinking that we were all just relaxing. Yet the more times I swim out to where the horses can’t touch bottom, the sorer I am the next day. I’ve even noticed the horses wearing out. Swimming is hard work, but with the water holding up the weight of our bodies, it’s easy to miss the resistance of the water as we paddle around.
How often is our faith this way? When God gives us peace which exceeds anything we can understand, we may go through a trial that doesn’t feel that hard in the middle of it. It is in retrospect that we recognize the stretching of our faith and feel the ache of growth. Sometimes that ache comes in feeling like God isn’t as near as He was during the trial. But we know that isn’t true, our God is always near.
Philippians 4:7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Buoyancy = Peace Beyond Understanding
Ache After Swimming=Ache of stretched faith/a perceived void in the nearness of God after a trial
I am so grateful that in the middle of the yuckiest storms life has to offer, the presence of God is often tangible. He is faithful to send His peace and to let us float, where He makes us feel weightless. Yet, when it is over, He hasn’t left us in the same place we started. He has done a great work in the muscle that is our faith.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I come to you today to thank you for working in my heart. Thank you for carrying me through the trials that threaten to crush and overtake me. Thank you for administering your peace that exceeds my understanding time and time again. I worship you, Father. You are so good. Please continue to grow my faith as you carry me through the trials of life.
In Jesus’ sweet name, amen.
Regina Walker released her debut novel, We Go On, this year. She crafts compelling characters facing some of life’s hardest challenges. Her heart’s desire is to always point toward Jesus through the way her characters face challenges, relationships, and adversity.
Regina is an Oklahoma import, although she was born and raised in the beautiful state of Colorado. She likes to curl up on the couch and binge-watch crime shows with her hard-working husband. When she’s not wrestling with a writing project, she can be found wrangling their children, riding their horses, or working around their small hobby farm.