First Baptist Church of Herndon

Your Inner Swan

Linda Soller | Oct 20, 2014

Our journey, as we study “The Way” and as the Drop-In Class makes the journey home, takes us down to the water. Unlike some of my previous writings of walking along the shore or gazing out at the waves, today we are going to get wet. Try, if you will, to visualize swimming in the sea. If you don’t swim this is going to lose something in translation. You must first enter the water, and no matter how warm you were on shore, it will probably feel cold. Gradually you walk into the water and it gets deeper. There may be waves smacking you in the face, the surface may be choppy or rolling, but as you continue forward you have three options. First you could start swimming. Second you might opt to float on the surface, and lastly you might sink and drown. I think the last option is extreme and should be avoided at all costs. With options one and two you will need to have an understanding of what will and won’t keep you at the surface, and some amount of body motion is needed, trust me. There may be splashing and if you are skilled in a specialty stroke, like my niece who told us at a very early age that she was “known for her butterfly”, you may create a lot of splashing along the way. So there you are swimming, and you can continue for as long as your energy allows, and the sea permits.

Now I want you to tap into your inner Swan. Yes, we all have an inner Swan. On the surface we are serene, smiling, floating through our day, our week, our life, but under the surface we are paddling like crazy to stay afloat. Sound familiar? Our Swan is different from our swimming because when we swim everyone can see the level of effort we are putting into our task. When we are in Swan mode we give the appearance of no effort at all. Oh, I see, you can’t remember ever being in Swan mode. Well if that is the case think of someone you have admired for those traits. Maybe they weren’t a Swan, but instead someone you thought walked on water. They may appear to you to be able to do the impossible, to be above reproach, to be that person you think can do no wrong. But, I don’t think there is such a person, because we are just people. Humans with faults and weaknesses who may at times excel, or rise above a difficult situation, but we do not walk on water, and our little webbed feet do have to keep paddling.

The Sea of Galilee was in a dangerous stormy state. In fact we know of several times in our stories from the Bible when that sea was rough and stormy. But the time we are talking about now was when the disciples were crossing the sea after a day of dealing with throngs of people. Jesus told them to go ahead and He would join them. As the wind stirred the waters the disciples saw what appeared to be a person walking on the surface of the sea toward them. As you might imagine, they were skeptical. People didn’t walk on water. But Jesus was not just any “person”, and as He approached the boat it was Peter who accepted the challenge to walk on the water, until his faith ran low and he began to sink. Jesus must have had such a warm feeling for Peter at that moment, knowing full well how much faith was needed to leave the boat, yet Peter did just that. When Peter’s faith faltered Jesus was there to hold him above the crashing waters.

In life we sometimes stick our toe in to test the waters, sometimes we dive right in, and other times we bob around a bit and decide whether to get out of the water or start to swim. God is encouraging for the toe dippers, the voice of reason for the divers, and the coach in the boat alongside the swimmers. He watches the swans as they float so beautifully along the surface and is there when they can paddle no more, to get them to dry land. The significance of the stormy seas in the Bible should not be under estimated, because our lives are often stormy like the seas. Like the sea, life can be scary, and it is so reassuring to know God watches over us. So dip your toes, or dive right in, or bob a bit, but get wet, have faith. Life on earth is a one shot deal. Maybe it is time you tapped into your inner Swan. God is ready with a lifeboat.

Have a great week!  :o)    Linda