Alvin M. Keeling 
God is like a supportive parent, ready to hold and comfort us.
If you’ve been to a children’s swimming lesson, you know the atmosphere. The humidity of the air, the smell of chlorine, the screeches and screams and splashes of happy children, the calls and chants of the instructors – all swirling together in a cacophonous maelstrom of chaos and joy. Parents look on with pride and are sometimes distracted by the ubiquitous smart devices.
Taking my daughter to swimming lessons was a highlight for me, a special moment that we can spend together. Although we have had a major disruption this year due to the pandemic, she is now in her second term and loves it. The first lesson after confinement was a challenge. She cried most of the time and refused to let go, clinging to my chest like a limpet. Watched the instructor all the time. Fortunately, over the next three or four lessons, she returned to her love of water, laughing and bouncing with excitement and much more engaged.
It is difficult for toddlers to learn to swim, but it is important. Many infants drown every year, and familiarizing young children and helping them instinctively learn how to grab the edge of the pool or not panic in the water can help save their lives.
As my young tadpole learns to master swimming, as I watched her learn and unlearn (and forget during lockdowns), I learned a few lessons myself.
God is like a supporting parent. He’s right there in the splash of water supporting us and helping us learn. Sometimes our heads go underwater, but that’s part of the learning process. If things get too intense and we cry, he is there to hold us in his arms and comfort us.
An exercise is designed to make toddlers feel comfortable moving their limbs in the water. The child is encouraged to throw the floating toy in front of him, or sometimes the parents have to. The child will instinctively pick up the toy. The exercise is designed to move the limbs and to encourage the child to feel what he wants, reaching his goal. Over the last few lessons I’ve noticed my daughter just stretching in a superman pose but not kicking her or moving her arms. She knows dad will propel her towards her goal. “Make him work for this,” the teacher said. It was then that I realized that my daughter expected me to do all the work. She could no longer reach or learn to move around in water.
We can be like that in life sometimes. We expect God to help us achieve our goals. Although we cannot work for salvation and security ourselves, we can learn to move around in the situations we find ourselves in. We pray sometimes and we put ourselves in a waiting posture, but we don’t kick! When the water is too rough, all we can do is let God carry us, but at other times God places goals in our lives that we can push to receive. The challenges we face can help us grow if we take an active part.
My daughter is easily distracted by lessons in other parts of the pool; she wants to grab the corridor rope; she jumps into the pool (and my arms) before the countdown runs out. She is sometimes overconfident and tries to reach out to her mother on the fringes. As she pulls away from my arms, she quickly collapses. I have to pull her up.
Sometimes we forget that God cares about us and has our best interests at heart. In our lifetime, it’s easy to forget the things God has done for us. We strive to do things without Him. Jesus, in one of his parables, speaks of building on a solid foundation that cannot be swept aside. Yet, once we have experienced this foundation, we continue to fend for ourselves. The only thing that can save us when we sink is the mighty arms of our Heavenly Daddy.
God does not want us to drown in a sea of pain. He offers us joy; the exhilaration of learning new things and growing as her children, while her strong arms offer protection and support. The one who calmed the storm with his voice assures us: “Do not be afraid, only believe” (Mark 5:36).
The original version of this story was published by Adventist dossier.
