The calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico make it easy to drift out too far from the shore.
When I was growing up, my parents used to take our family to the beach for a week, every single summer. My brother and sister and I, always looked forward to it. It was a week every year where Daddy didn’t go to work. It was a week that included eating dinner out, putt-putt golf and lots of beach time. It was always so much fun.
We always went to Panama City Beach. These were the days before MTV, so it was still fairly tame. Being on the Gulf of Mexico, we could float on a raft, just about all day. The waves were typically very calm.
One day, Daddy and I were out on a couple of rafts. We were out for a long time. I don’t remember what we were talking about, but we were having a ball. It was kind of rare for him to be totally relaxed and he was.
Then, out of the blue, he told me to start paddling on my float. Whenever a large wave came, he would tell me to paddle hard. He made a game out of it and it was fun. We finally ended up close enough to put our feet down and walk out.
It wasn’t until much later, I think after we got home, that he admitted the truth to me. We had drifted much further from the shore than he had ever intended. We were in deep water and he was concerned for our safety. He was a Navy man. He never let on that he thought we might be in any danger. He kept his cool and guided us safely back to shore.
When I think about that day, I am reminded of how easy it us to drift much further away from God than we ever intended. We can sometimes stop paying attention and let seemingly little things slip. We are busy on the weekends, so we start missing church, or we are too tired to make Sunday school, so we just skip it and go to worship. We are too busy or tired to make time for reading the Bible today. Maybe we can read it tomorrow. We didn’t find any time at all for quiet time for prayer this week. We’ll do better next week.
None of those examples are earth shattering. It’s not like we murdered someone or committed  adultery. They are simply examples of us giving into our humanity. Doing any of those things every now and then, isn’t that big of a deal.
But, here’s the thing; the little things are a slow drift from the safety of God’s shore. We rarely wake up one day and turn our backs on our faith. But, we are much more likely to slowly drift away if we aren’t vigilant. Then a big wave comes and we are shocked that we are so far away. How could that happen? Weren’t we just taking a little break or having a little fun?
Luckily, we can have Jesus on the float beside us, like my Daddy was all those years ago. He can guide us safely back in, but we have to ask.
When we are firmly back on the shore, we take a deep breath and are reminded to be careful of the undertow. We are reminded to be careful of drifting. It really can sneak up on us. Perhaps you needed reminding today.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂