How do you learn to swim when you can't swim?

I celebrated my 50th Birthday in January and was very thankful the Lord allowed me to reach this milestone age.  I had no desire for any gifts, but I did have a prayer request.  I asked the Lord if He could give me another summer off.  I taught high school for 16 years and always enjoyed my summers off.  Since the summer of 2013, I have worked - hard - in the summer, and I wanted to enjoy another slow, wake-up-late, kind of summer.  God has blessed me with a weeklong family trip to Orlando, a week with my husband in Charleston, a week offering professional development to teachers (out of the office), both Memorial Day and July 4th weekend at Myrtle Beach, and now a week with my husband in Nashville, TN.  I’d say this is as close to a summer off as I can get and not be sick or unpaid.  Thank you, LORD!!!     

On the other hand…while I have kept up with my Bible study, I haven’t been writing a weekly message.  (Lord, I ask your forgiveness!!!)  When we were in Orlando, there were 16 of us in an Airbnb and my nephews who are 10 and 12 were in the pool trying to learn to swim.  Several of us were in the pool with them at different times, including myself, but the conversation I recall was when I was outside the pool and Myles, the 10 year old, said, “I can’t stay up!”  He was trying to float, but kept sinking.  
He asked, “Autie Kim, how do you float?”  
I said, “You have to trust the water to push you up.”  
“Huh!  But how?”
I said, “Bring your legs up and let the water hold you.”
He said, “I can’t!”  

At that moment, I realized how absurd that must have sounded to him.  I am a swimmer, not a great swimmer, but I know how to float and tread, and I know the four strokes.  I led labs on buoyancy when I taught Physical Science, and I also know how body shape and composition impacts floatation.  I know the water will push me up.  To say, “trust the water to push you up,” to someone who has not experienced this yet; someone who has observed objects sinking in water; someone who is not currently floating; someone whose number one fear is that the pool water, in fact, will not push him up…Auntie Kim, you’ve got to explain this a different way!  On that day, I had already been in the pool trying to teach him, I was still wrinkled, and I was not getting back in.  I sat there trying to think of a better way to explain it, and it occurred to me that this was like trying to explain faith.

My Bible study this summer is on the book of John.  We are in the 11th chapter and there is great confusion over who Jesus is (8:25); what He is talking about (6:56-69); whether he is blaspheming (10:36); how He gained such knowledge without having been taught (John 7:15); and how he can be from God, when they know he came from Galilee (7:52). 

As I read, and lead this group, I am seeing the importance of all 4 gospels.  Matthew captured Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and all of the parables (which I love).  Mark tells the story of Jesus’ life on earth without coming up for air - he wrote only necessary details, and gave a full picture, leaving the reader in a convinced state of awe!  Luke shares his observations of Jesus, with the sidenotes.  Luke wrote about how the angel Gabriel foretold of both John the Baptist and Jesus’ births, these details no one else shared.  John elaborates on seven miracles, showing Jesus’ glory, but also writes about the great confusion among the people and how Jesus addressed it.  To me, if you are struggling to believe, all four of these accounts are necessary, or at least Matthew and John. 

So, the question, how do you learn to swim when you can’t is like how do you believe when you don’t?  As for swimming, we have all seen people swimming.  We have seen Olympians dive into the water and come up several yards out into the water.  We see how they flex their spine to achieve forward motion in the water.  We see how they move their arms, legs, and feet.   We have all seen objects sink, but we have also seen objects float, so we know it’s possible.  How do you learn to swim when you can’t, is a matter of trying it in a safe manner. My nephew both had witnessed swimming in the past, even that day, they had witnessed their cousins swimming, so they knew it was possible.  My nephews were in the pool alone, but at no time were they outside alone.  There was always someone at the pool’s edge who could help, if needed.  In fact, two summers ago, I had to rescue one of them whose swimming practice went awry, so they knew a “lifeguard” was on duty.  It was up to them to try.

How do you believe when you don’t?  Well, we all start off as unbelievers.  No one is born believing and professing Jesus as Lord and Savior.  We all enter the world as sinners, whether we call ourselves sinners, or not!  We all have different life experiences and learn about the experiences of others which can either cause us to believe in someone greater than ourselves, or to become bitter and negative towards life.  

For those people living in the 1st century, they had the opportunity to actually hear Jesus teach.  There were crowds of thousands of people following Him to hear his teachings.  Today, we hear about miracles that occur through prayer and fasting.  In those days, it was their cousin’s friend’s mom, who had been bleeding for twelve years (Luke 8:43-48) and she was able to make her way through the crowd to touch the hem of His robe and immediately her bleeding stopped.  The leper Jesus healed and told him not to tell, told everyone! (Luke 5:12-16) The twelve disciples had their families and friends who, I’m sure they told about the night they were in the boat during the storm several miles across (John 6:16-20) and they looked up and Jesus was walking on the water.  I’m sure they also told about the night they were in the boat during another storm (Matthew 8:23-27) and the boat was filling up with water and they thought they would drown, meanwhile Jesus was asleep. They woke Him up and He rebuked the wind and all was still.  

The people of Jesus’ time heard Him teaching, first hand, or they heard about Him (second hand) from someone who was there.  Today we have Scripture and we have people who have a personal relationship with Jesus who share their accounts.  Ultimately, it’s a choice.  Just like my nephews, they were in the pool, they could either choose to try and swim or remain unable to swim.  Swimming had been explained and they had seen it in action - it was their choice.  With our faith, we can choose to believe that we are sinners, believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came to save us from dying in our sin; believe that His death represents the end of our guilt due to sin, and believe that because He rose to life three days after his death, that we also can live and experience eternal life - and understand that eternal life doesn’t start after we physically die, but it starts the moment we begin to believe in HIm. 

• John 3:36 Anyone who believes in the Son has eternal life. Anyone who says no to the Son will not have life. God's anger remains on him."
• 1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
• Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Hebrews 5:9 And, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.  (Obey is present tense. We obey while we live!)

As I wrap up this extra long blog post - How do you learn to swim when you can’t?  You have to try. The same goes for Jesus - try Him! Try to believe; try to read the scriptures; try prayer; try going to church; try Bible study; try living as if you believe He is good and His mercy endureth forever. Try it. Try writing your Proverb (it corresponds to the numerical day of your birth). Try talking to someone who believes in Jesus. Try reading the whole chapter that contains the passage you hear a sermon preached from.  You have everything you need, now you have to try. 

I am happy to report that both of my nephews, before we left Orlando, were swimming!   Her'e the video to prove it!!!   They tried it and it worked.  I’ve heard that you can’t forget how to ride a bike and you can’t forget how to swim.  Scripture says once we have eternal life, we always have it, try it!  Amen!

John 10:28-30 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.


AMEN!!!  I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I am!!!
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