My Dad was a huge fisherman. We fished all the time. He loved to go lobstering.
One time he took my brother and me to the Marquesas Islands (actually part of the Keys). It is 20 miles south of Key West. It’s not an easy place to get to because of 7 miles of open water where the Atlantic and Gulf mix called the Boca Grande Channel. The water around The Marquesas is relatively shallow and great for fishing and lobstering.
My dad bought something called an “Aqua Buoy.” It was a gas powered air pump that had 4 masks attached to 4 very long air hoses. He would put weights on me to help me sink to the bottom of the shallow flats around the lagoon. He and my brother would dive for lobsters. We, at times, would be separated by 50 yards of open water. Now there are two ways of looking at this, 1, my dad was reckless or 2, he was going to keep us safe no matter what. I’m going with #2.
Even though there was the occasional nurse shark or barracuda, I never doubted that my dad would be able to take care of me. If ever there was something that he was worried about, he would just tug on my air hose and pull me up with him. Then he would move to another lobster hole and I could follow or play on the bottom of the flats until he moved on again.
If we trust God, we can depend on Him to take care of everything. If I had fought my dad and dug my feet into the bottom of the flats, eventually I would have been disconnected from my airline and I would be stuck at the bottom with no air and lots of sharks.
We need to trust God to take care of us. He allows us a lot of freedom in our choices, but when He tugs at us, when He tries to lead us and we dig our feet in we will be disconnected from our lifeline.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” God has laid out a plan for Eastern Hills Baptist Church. It is a good plan. We need to follow His path and not our own. We need to trust Him to lead us and not dig our feet in to change.
I don’t think it is as much about discovering what God would have us to do as it is to do the things we know He wants us to do. Remember, enjoy the lagoon, don’t fight your father and stay connected to your lifeline.
I look forward to seeing what God has in store for us at Eastern Hills Baptist Church.