Lines in the Sand & Pushing your Limits

There is a certain threshold any given person has.

 An imaginary limit in our heads, or “a line in the sand” on the beach if you will. Basically it’s a capacity we think we can handle. If we dare go beyond this capacity limit… well who knows what will happen!

In my life there have been a LOT of lines I’ve “drawn in the sand,” only for God to take my hand and take me past those scary little lines I made for myself. Sometimes I’m excited and proud of my accomplishment of moving that “line” a little further and further out. Looking back I think “Ha! How could I have thought that was my limit!? God really knew better than me on this one!”

Other times He’s called me deeper and I’m not too excited. It’s uncomfortable, difficult and downright terrifying as I’m blindly guided along further down the sandy beach.

Then I reach a limit where I do not want to budge AT ALL. I feel as if my heels are sunk deep in the ground &  I’m kicking and screaming as He pulls me on… pulling me soooo far along that I’m in the ocean and I feel like I’m drowning. Like He’s abandoned me there. Brought me waaaayyy past my comfort zone into deep deep waters and left me there to suffer. 

At this point I start to close up. I think how dare God do this to me. After all the years of faithfulness, searching for Him and keeping Him at the center of my life, why is He asking so much of me? Why is He asking more than what I can give? 

Why has He moved this line so far and now He’s letting me drown…

Okay back to reality after that analogy, but sometimes life can seem this way for me. My relationship with Christ isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes I am angry, confused, exhausted and don’t feel like I have any more left to give. And I’m not afraid to say it, I’ll tell Him all of that. Vent out all the frustrations and confusion in a broken messy prayer which is most often done “real life conversation style” in the adoration chapel or during long commutes in my 2014 Kia Sorrento.

You see I think God calls us to deep waters for many reasons, but one of them, at least in my opinion is for us to cry out to Him. It isn’t a “punishment”, but an opportunity to grow in faith and love for Him. 

In Matthew 6:26 Jesus says: “Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they?”

So why do I question God’s intentions for my life? I have to remind myself that even though life can be rough and challenging (occasionaly feeling like I'm drowning in “deep waters”) He’s constantly there to take care of me. Simply put, if God would take care of the birds in the sky; even more so, He would take care of me, His Beloved Daughter, and everyone else in this big world He created .

So if you feel like your drowning in life, reach out to Him & talk it out. Then after you’ve vented everything at His feet, allow Him to embrace you and know You are taken care of uniquely by Your God.