"Without A Doubt"

2009 by Robert Bailes

At What Point Do We Doubt?

There are allot of things to keep our minds occupied these days and adding to the list are the decisions that are being made by our government. These are decisions that will effect every household in America in some way or another. We are not talking about choice of participation if the policies and bills are passed and made law and this has caused allot of people to worry about their children and grandchildren having to fork out the money it will take to fund these plans and whether there will be enough left over to survive.

I can understand the concerns being expressed by the American all across our nation, but the people in Washington are suppose to be looking at the big picture and they can do things that we have no control over as an individual US citizen. I suggest we get on our knees every day and entreat or call out to our Lord for favor in His sight. That is to ask Him to look at our situation and do whatever is His preference!

When someone asks us whether we prefer water or tea; they are asking us what we really want to drink. They aren't asking us what we can afford or what we usually drink. They want to know what we like the most and that is what we are asking our Lord God for; what He would like the most in out lives or in the law making of this country. When you pray you must trust Him to answer your prayer in His time.

Besides all of the issues with laws and health care, there are other critical issues to deal with when it comes to teaching our children. I have recently had the realization that my daughter didn't want to dive off of the diving board and I didn't realize this until just a few days before leaving for camp. This is a major deal for a child that is not really a kid anymore as of six days ago and still not quite a teen either.

She wanted to dive so bad! We had been going all summer to the Pullen Park Pool but the diving boards were usually off bounds when we would get there. How was I to know that she was struggling with something that seemed so natural and easy to me? She needed to know how to dive before she got up in front of the others at camp, so she would have the courage to do it without my actually being there in person!

I realized when she would get up to the end of the board, she would always look at me and then just kind of bounce off feet first. What she needed was assurance and the rules were that only one person could get on the board at a time. After thinking it through, I decided to take her to the edge of the pool where the water was fourteen feet deep and get her to dive from the edge of the pool. At first try she would kind of hit the water with her whole body creating a big splash but as I watched her and tweaked the way she dove, her splash got smaller and smaller and she became more and more confident in her ability to dive.

Finally it was time to try what she had learned off of the diving board but she got up there and just jumped off again. Boy! I was really surprised! As she swam to the edge of the pool I was looking at the board and thought about how high it really was from the water. It was only about thirty inches from the water, so I asked her what was bothering her when she got up there and she said that it was so much higher that the edge of the pool. That's when I told her to look at it from where we were standing and I held my hand at the height of the board so she could see just how close it actually was to the pool level. She said, "Wow, it's really not as high as it looks from up there on the board!".

What had made the difference? It was that she knew and understood how high she was above the water.

She had already gained confidence in her diving and I had coached her and told her how well she was doing with all sincerity. She had already come to realize that the water couldn't hurt her and that I was there if anything happened. It was just a matter of understanding so that her doubts would be eliminated and her confidence would be created in her.

When it comes to our lives we need to remember the things that our Lord has taken us through and the assurance that has been given that He will never leave us or forsake us. What causes you to stall or freeze up in life? If there are things that cause you to grow fearful or remind you of past failure, take a little time and step back from whatever it is and see just how big it really is in comparison to the Almighty God that we worship!

I just love to read or hear someone, when referring to our Lord, call Him the "Lord God Almighty" because that means that He is exalted on High and I have nothing that He can't handle!

Let's just remember two verses today when we think about the problems that we or our children might be struggling with; as well as the law makers in the USA that are taking the burden of making decisions that have never been made before. They need Divine coaching as much as we and our children do!

Let's remember not to put our confidence in the leaders themselves but to put our trust in our God to do what is favorable in His sight!

It is only then that we can walk boldly and confident no matter how hopeless it may look to people who are standing on the diving board of life and looking over the edge down at the water without hope or confidence!

Psalm 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
Psalm 118:9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.