Kristin and I had decided that this summer we would work on teaching the kids to swim. We bought season passes to the pool, new suits for the girls, and stocked up on sunscreen. Pretty quickly, it was clear that Kenna, the four year old, was content to just hang at the pool, occasionally throwing us a bone by grabbing the sides of the pool and kicking. But toss her a pool noodle and the "Uh-No" face came up. So, patience there. But Leslie, the six year old, she was ready. Last summer she had mastered swimming with the noodle (we don't do floaties), so this was definitely the time. We were making some progress on treading water, and so we moved to learning to float on the back. This is where things went south. Leslie would lay on the water, flat- and stiff- as aboard. She would not lay her head back in the water for some reason, even though she had already gone completely under the water for more than 5 seconds repeatedly. I instructed her to relax and stop being stiff or she'd sink. She'd do that, but the second she felt my hand leave her back- stiff, then sink, then flail. I know she was listening, because she would attempt to do what I said. But when the time came to go into actual action- glub, glub,glub.
I, of course, grew frustrated. It's what I do when things don't go the way I expect or hope. Leslie got upset. The lesson sunk fast.
Later that weekend, preparing for our church's message on listening and doing from James 1, I replayed the scene. Here's Leslie, listening. Here's Leslie not doing. Oh, how that so paralleled: Here's Chad listening. Here's Chad not doing. So often, I read the scriptures, or feel an urge from God, or hear a song or message that is clearly God speaking to me. I listen, get excited, then do...nothing.
James 1:22-25:
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
Why do we- and lets face it, we all do this- just listen and not do? Why do churches pack'em in by the thousands, but never affect real change? Why do we read thousands of pages of books- the Bible included- and never apply what we learn? Why do we choose to sink, when we could be swimming?
We fear other things too much and don't trust Him enough.
I saw this in Leslie when she wouldn't do what I said in the pool. I believe my daughter trusts me, completely. But even her depth of trust in me was outweighed by other factors like the water that would go in her ears, not being sure of what floating really is all about, and honestly, probably the fear of "What if THIS is the time my Dad lets me down?"
God asks us to do things all time. We feel that nudge to go talk to someone, or stop and pray or read something specific. These are basic, easy, relatively low risk things. Like me asking Leslie or Kenna to let me carry them on my shoulders, or let me meet one of their friends. Daily things. But God asks us to something new, something we view as unfamiliar or even a little dangerous. If He hasn't, He will. There is a natural, normal, pause we give to that. We weigh the cost of it, as the Bible tells us (Luke 14:25-34). But we only proceed if our trust in God outweighs our fear of the other factors. And honestly, I think even if we have trusted God with the big stuff before, there is a nagging question of, "What if THIS is the time my Father lets me down?"
The truth is, for us to practice Listening and Doing- Trusting has to be a part of the equation. Because ultimately, our own understanding is what can keep us from doing what we've listened to. God's response to that:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight
-Proverbs 3:5-6
Listen to Him. Trust Him. Do as He says.
PS- Kristin took over with Leslie after the failure of my teaching. For some reason, floating on her belly was easier to take than her back. So she'd float for a bit like that. Then I tried something- I told her to kick and move her arms like we'd worked on. She trusted me- because her trust was greater than her fear of the unknown- and took off swimming!
But I'm not giving up on her learning to float on her back.
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