Many years ago when I was in high school (smile), I was faced with a very distressing situation that was huge for me as a teenager. I was disturbed by the rude awakening that I would have to take swimming lessons during the second semester of my freshman year and it would be my second period of the day! This was the worst possible news I could have received. First of all it was in the dead of winter, the second period of the day was about 9:00 a.m., I had a fear of large bodies of water, and last but certainly not least my hair would be ruined for the remainder of every day that I had swim class! Ugh!!!!

I did everything I could do to get out of the class, even went as far as having my mother write a letter to the school. All my efforts were to no avail. Every day I went to class and sat on the side of the pool with my feet dangling in the water hoping the nightmare would end. By the time I would ease into the water the class would be winding down and I ended up not participating. Intentional plan, but not a well thought out strategy. Finally, after about a week of this my teacher passed by me at the end of class and very discreetly said, “Denise unless you participate and learn to swim you will fail physical education class”. So, since failure was never a part of my lifestyle, I knew I would have to bite the bullet.

The next day with fear still gripping me, I determined I was going to tackle this thing. I decided that easing into the water was only making it harder to achieve what had to be done. Therefore, I came out of the shower / locker room, took a deep breath, and jumped into the water! The shock of the cold water was severe (no doubt about that), but I realized by fully submerging myself caused my body to adjust much faster than easing into it one body part at a time! As the class progressed, I happened to be the first student to dive off the diving board, and one day just for kicks I decided to cartwheel off the board. Needless to say it was to the amusement and delight of the whole class including the teacher!

As you begin this new year, I am sure there are things that you have been procrastinating about, easing into, or absolutely refusing to do. You have heard from the Lord more than once, He has even sent confirmations through other means of communication but, yet you refuse to fully submerge! All my excuses for not wanting to learn to swim were valid and in my best personal interest so I thought. But living our lives and deciding what experiences and lessons we will learn throughout the journey is not up to us. That’s God’s business! There is a very small three letter word that has significant impact that you can expect to run into at many intersections in your life.

That word is NOW. In the first few verses of Joshua chapter 1, the Lord personally speaks to Joshua. The word NOW begins verse 1 and is found again in verse 2. I am sure you can imagine that although Joshua has spent many years with Moses, to know that NOW he has been given the task of leading the nation of Israel into the promised land is a daunting task. It has taken them long enough, their ups and downs, griping and complaining, and blatant disobedience has deterred them far too long. NOW, it is time for Joshua to assume the responsibility and take possession of the promise.

Let me encourage you to know that if God has spoken to you, called you, assigned you, or appointed you, then rest assured that He has and will continue to equip you for the task. I will not deny that it is going to take a leap of faith, and easing into it probably won’t work. You’re just delaying and prolonging the process. It’s a new year, it’s a new season, jump right on in knowing that He’s got you and who knows, before you realize it you just might be turning cartwheels with excitement of what you have accomplished!

Source: First Lady Denise