Swim Lessons

Recently, my oldest son, Selleck, started taking swimming lessons. He is such a natural in the water, without even a little bit of fear. His favorite thing to do is a flip off of a diving board or the side of the pool. Where does he get that from? I don't know.

When I was younger, I used to try flips off the diving board. In fact, on one vacation, I spent the better part of three days trying to learn how to do a good flip. However, after a red back from smacking it on the water, I knew my flipping days would be few.

What causes a person to stop trying to do a flip? Is it wisdom? You get to the point where you know that, more times then not, when you try to flip you will hurt your back. Or, is it fear? You fear the outcome, so you don't try the flip.

Many times in life, there are opportunities that we let slip by, either out of wisdom or out of fear. There is a fine line between the two. If you turn down an opportunity because you are wise enough to know that it is not for you, then that is the right thing to do. However, if you let an opportunity pass because you have a fear that a similar result will occur as it has in the past, then you could be missing out on something great.

How do you make the determination between wisdom and fear? Honestly, the only response I have is to lay it at the feet of Jesus. His guidance will help us be wise when appropriate and will help us overcome our fear when that is needed as well.