When I was little, I aspired to be what most little girls long to be: a mermaid.
I would play like a fish in the pool or ocean during the summers, and I would frequently have relatives time how long I could hold my breath underwater. I had true goals to increase my lung capacity to the point where I could breathe under water. Aim high, right?
Anyway, during these attempts to defy normal human capacity, I would plunge myself under the water and allow myself to float there calmly as I tried to beat my previous records. I would wait, and wait, and wait until I knew I couldn't hold out much longer. Once I reached my limit, I would vigorously emerge from the depths of the water and break the surface, feeling the sunshine on my face once again and the light piercing my closed eyes.
There was something thrilling and relieving about coming up for air.
And the same has proven true in my life ever since.
There are times in my life when I'm deeply submerged into the darkness of the water, spiritually speaking. There are moments when it seems that breathing is impossible, when I'm not sure where the surface is, or when I can't see the light. There are days when I feel that I'm flailing about without any progress in the midst of stormy waters. Yet without fail, when I call upon the Lord to rescue me, to take me by hand, He pulls me out of the waters and into the light of day. Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah would set the captives free and release the prisoners. Jesus did just that during His time on earth. He gave sight to the blind and set the tormented free from their inner prisons.
He's doing the same thing today. He rescues us from our own dungeons, floods our darkness with His light, gives air to our weary lungs and warmth to our cold faces. He is the one who draws us out of the darkness of the deep and into the light of new life.
But we have to let Him. We can tend to be stubborn and refuse to be rescued. We can try to find our way to the surface on our own. We can convince ourselves that we are able to catch out breath without any help. That gets us nowhere fast.
So if you find yourself covered by deep and dark waters, look to Light Himself. Call upon the Lord and allow Him to draw you from the depths and into His glorious light.
Olivia Spears is a middle school religion teacher turned SAHM who is married to her high school best friend. You can find out more about her here.
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