Kayaking is
an amazing sport. While it may look easy
to do, it’s really not. The kayak is
long and narrow, and tipping is easy.
Experienced kayakers are able to tip their boat, and turn it back upright
without any trouble. Inexperienced
kayakers, however, struggle when they tip. The natural tendency when tipping is
to lean in the opposite direction in an attempt to straighten the kayak. Try
this and you are guaranteed to end up drenched.
Leaning our upper body in the opposite direction forces our lower body
into the tip. Working against it,
actually speeds up the process of tipping over.
Experienced
Kayakers know that leaning into the tip forces the lower body against the
tipping kayak. This brings the kayak back toward center. The boater can even
slap the face of the paddle onto the surface of the water, which will add force
against the tipping boat. The principle to remember when trying to keep a kayak
upright is to work with the tipping kayak, not against it.
A spiritual
trial is a lot like paddling a kayak.
Getting started is not that difficult, but when a cross current hits, we
struggle. When struggles come, we feel
like we’re going to tip. The natural tendency is to lean away from the trial,
to fight it, and stay as far away as possible.
However, God wants us to learn from our trials. He wants us to get
stronger, and to learn to stay upright. The key to learning from a trial is to
lean into it. Don’t fight it. Work with it. Though it seems counter intuitive,
it is actually the only way to restore our spiritual journey.
James
wrote, “Consider it all joy, my
brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the
testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its
perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing”
(James 1:2-4). Leaning in is
what brings the perfect results. Don’t fight your trials. Work with them and you will gain endurance,
and ultimately you will become perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
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