Several of our grandchildren have taken swim lessons. One skill that every swim instructor has taught the kids is how to float on their backs. This felt scary to a few of our kiddos and when they were put on their back, they flailed and thrashed. Floating doesn’t work when we fight the water. When they finally relaxed, they realized they could float.
Author David Benner compares trusting God’s unfailing love to floating in the water. When we are all caught up in striving, we have a hard time experiencing the overwhelming love of God. The answer is to simply surrender and relax in God’s unfailing love. As Benner writes, “Surrender is the discovery that we are in a river of love and that we float without having to do anything.”(1) I love that picture. It reminds me that whatever is happening in my life, God’s amazing love is sustaining me.
So many at this present time are suffering. Cancer diagnosis, wandering children, financial difficulties, or a host of other problems are weighing them down. The temptation is towards striving and thrashing in the waters of life. The answer is to relax in God’s amazing love. However, relaxing is hard to do when you’re in pain. It’s counterintuitive. The only way this is possible is to lean into the Holy Spirit and remember what God has promised.
What Exactly Has He Promised?
That His Unfailing Love Will Not Be Shaken. “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the LORD who has compassion on you” (Isaiah 54:10).
That Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:38-39).
That His Love Always Extends Grace to Us. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5).
How Do We Relax in His Unfailing Love?
We may know these verses, but because life is challenging, it may be harder for us to relax in His love. If you’re struggling to relax in His love, print out these verses and declare them over your life out loud. Make the verses personal. For example, “For I am convinced… that nothing can separate me from the love of God.” There is something powerful about declaring God’s Word out loud.
Another practice that can help us experience His love more deeply is to praise Him by faith. Even when you don’t feel God’s love, try praising Him – by faith – that He does love you, that His love can’t be shaken, that nothing can separate you from His love, and that He always extends grace to you. As you praise Him, I believe you will experience His overwhelming, loving presence.
Friend, life can feel dark at times. This week, make it your practice to meditate on His love. Claim His Word over your life and praise God for His unfailing love.
My Prayer for You
May you know how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ for you. May you never doubt that He is categorically for you. May you experience the richness of His grace and the depth of His love. May He do exceedingly, abundantly more than all you can ask or think according to the power of His Holy Spirit!
(1) David Benner, Surrender to Love, (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Books, 2015), 63
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