Mark Sorensen So I got the joy of spending some time with friends on Lake Conroe last week.
It was a needed time of soaking up some sunshine, taking a break from a pretty crazy pace I’ve had lately and spending time laughing with friends. As we headed out on the boat, I noticed a tube that they loaded up and, when I asked if we were tubing, they replied, “Only if you go out on it first, Pastor!”
Mission accepted.
I hopped on, held on to the handles and the boat took off. It’s funny. Have you ever agreed to something and after you’re committed, you begin to rethink said decision? Yep. Me too. Things were going fine until the boat began to zig to the left, then zag to the right. As the tube skipped along the water, I skipped along with it (surprisingly) pretty well. “I’ve got the hang of this,” I thought. And then another random thought occurred to me: “I bet I could stand up on this tube and surf!” Look at me trying to be the Apostle Peter on Lake Conroe. Only problem? I’m not the Apostle Peter. As I stood up on the tube (pulled behind a speeding boat continuing to zig to the left and zag to the right), I hit a bump and, you guessed it – I went sailing off the tube. I smacked into the water and, as my friends recalled, I “skipped like a flat rock on smooth water” several times.
You know, water gives off the appearance of being soft, that is until you hit it sideways going way too fast. It packs a punch.
Life is full of these moments, isn’t it? One minute we’re on top of the water and we feel like we are in complete control, and the next minute we’re flying through the air with the not-so-greatest of ease, about to slam into the water. Yet, here’s the good news:
God is there. He’s there when it is all going great, and He’s just as there when things are not. All we’re called to do? Just keep breathing.
In Psalm 150, the psalmist says the following: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the phrase, “Praise the Lord” is in there twice. Look at what Paul says in Philippians 4:4: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I’ll say it again, rejoice!”
Here’s the thing. There’s power in our praise. We rejoice because of who God is and what God is doing. We praise because we know that God is good, even if our circumstances are not. And we praise because it’s a powerful weapon against the enemy’s attacks. Praise lifts the eyes of our hearts towards the One who gives us strength. (Read Psalm 121)
So may you, my friend, keep breathing. Inhale the grace and mercy of God’s love, and exhale the power of what God will do in your life.
