My Movements. His Movements.

“There are better ways to move through an ocean than kicking"

-  Andrea Gibson, A Letter to a Playground Bully

Have you ever thought about the way we swim? I’ve never realised it before but we actually propel ourselves with quite violent motions. We kick, splash, slice, slap and absolutely assault the water. Have you ever thought about the way fish and dolphins swim? They glide, moving effortlessly and gently. Fish don’t kick their way around. We do that. The way fish swim only reflects their perfect design for their environment. When it comes to swimming, we are not graceful at all! Our movements only reflect the fact we are not made to live in the ocean. But let's go deeper. Just as we kick our way through the water, we kick our way through life also.

We seem to go about our days in a constant struggle, always striving to be better, to progress further up the academic or professional ranks. We try so hard to forge a path through life but its storms and waves keep knocking us down. Why do we often find ourselves in places of disappointment, feeling burnt out and hopeless? Perhaps our movements through life reveal the fact that we actually don’t belong here.

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 3:20

As in water, we kick our way through life because we are not designed to be permanent residents of this world. We belong to heaven. There is no need to kick through God’s kingdom. When fish are on land they move awkwardly – flopping around, gasping for air- it shows they do not belong. When we are going through the motions of life, we struggle, fall down and get hurt – it shows we can’t get through it on our own. Therefore, if our home is in heaven our movements on earth should reflect the movements of God’s kingdom. Although we can swim, we are still land creatures. Although we reside in this world, we are still God’s people, let our actions, words and thoughts reflect our heavenly home.

Blessings, Viola