Fall to the Bottom

Sometimes…..ok, more often than I care to admit….. I try to be in control of all the parts of my life.  Sometimes I wonder if I’m listening to direction or am I just inserting my own dreams and desires which dominate my choices.  The whole idea of surrender keeps coming up in my quiet times.  I want to surrender to God’s plan which no doubt is far better than any plan I could come up with.  My human me is so self-focused and self-serving and maybe a little afraid that God’s plan will take me outside of my comfort zone and challenge me to do something unfamiliar and scary.  So I embrace the idea of surrender, but it’s harder than it sounds to let go and let God. 

Often when we think of surrender, we think of it like a military term where we wave the white flag and stop fighting and accept defeat.  It’s seems like a bad thing. It seems like giving up.  But there’s a kind of surrendering that creates peace in a different way.  Instead of growing weary from trying to swim upstream against the current of whatever life is throwing our way, it’s allowing ourselves to go with the flow and let the current carry us.  It’s being able to rest in not knowing exactly where we are going to end up and hoping that there’s not a giant waterfall ahead, but accepting that if there is, we will be able to navigate it. 

Recently I read a devotional by Frank Viola where he stated that in navy SEAL training, candidates undergo something called “drownproofing”.  Their hands are bound behind their backs and their feet are tied together and they are thrown into the deep end of a nine foot pool. There are several exercises they are required to complete to continue in the program, two of which are bobbing up and down twenty times and retrieving a swim mask from the bottom of the pool with their teeth.  The difference between those who pass and those who don’t has to do with their ability to let go.  Those who succeed are the candidates who are able to relax, focus, and allow themselves to fall to the bottom.  They can then push themselves up with their feet to surface for air. Those who try to stay on top and swim end up failing. 

For most of us it’s a natural human tendency to want to fight, fix, and take control.  Sometimes it’s in our best interest to fight.  Surrender is quite counterintuitive.  There’s a big difference between strength in waiting and battle-ready strength.  One means gearing up and arming to fight, the other requires a confidence that lets us stay calm that things will work out as they should.  Letting go and waiting for direction about what to do next isn’t necessarily easy and it’s something we have to practice.  If we can learn to do it and trust God in the process, we find that peace that we’re all seeking. 

I’m working on being more dedicated to letting go and letting God. Maybe you’d like to join me in surrendering to the flow and letting the current carry you.  Keep your heart open and your mind flexible.  Stay focused, learn to relax and allow yourself to fall to the bottom when life throws you in the deep end. Find that calm confidence that will help you rise to the top. I’ll meet you there.