Counter-intuitive Living
by Lindsey Hanekom
It has long been a dream of mine to learn to scuba dive and recently I have finally taken the plunge – literally! After studying the theory and science behind diving, I had my first practical training session in the warmth and safety of a swimming pool.
Even though you know the theory, there is something distinctly unnerving about putting something in your mouth, going under water and continuing to breath. It is so counter-intuitive that your whole body and mind is saying, “Stop! Go back to the surface!” Yet, there is this strange sense that all is fine … You are breathing It is just different.
On my first proper ocean dive, it was a very bumpy boat ride out to sea that was the beginning of my adventure. Once kitted up and all safety checks were complete, the cox put the boat in position, stopped the engine and on the word, “Go,” my instructor and I tumbled backwards into the sea. As we descended to 13 meters, I knew this was very different to being in a pool. It was a pure act of choice to quench the sense of panic that comes from being deep under water and continuing to breath normally with the surface slipping away from you. But, the joy of what is down there! That is something that nobody but a diver can experience. What ensued was one of the most liberating, exhilarating, joyous thirty minutes of my life, as I experienced a rich wilderness I had only ever seen on TV.
On my way home, with a wide smile on my face, I considered areas in my life that I have resisted because of the sense of fear, maybe even panic, that can rise up when I think about them. For me, my diving experiences have vastly coincided with God bringing me to a deeper place in Him, going to the places previously ignored for these very reasons.
To trust God and make a choice to quench that sense of panic is not easy but I want to encourage you today that, if God is asking you to do something counter-intuitive, it may not be a bad thing, because what you discover in those places … well, they are so very, very special and, as today’s verse says, ‘Far beyond anything you could ever imagine.’
Prayer: Father God, I know there are areas in my life that I continue to resist and not want to investigate. If you want me to go there, Lord, then I choose to trust You and not allow the fear, even the panic, to overwhelm me. I know You will never leave me nor forsake me. I just want to live that truth. Amen.
Lindsey Hanekom Lindsey has worked at all of our UK centres over the years and has settled at Ellel Scotland with her husband, Johann and their two young children, Kyle and Zoe. As part of the Leadership Team at Ellel Scotland, Lindsey has a heart for the deeply broken as she oversees the prayer ministry and is an established and passionate teacher with Ellel. In her spare time, Lindsey enjoys the natural world, particularly the ocean, and is trained as a specialist medic to assist stranded and injured marine mammals.
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