Finally, as the sun lowered, Ainsley seemed to know her time was short. It was now or never. Once again, she pulled her mom over to the diving board. But this time, her mom wisely stepped back and encouraged Ainsley to do it by herself, since she knew that was really what Ainsley wanted. Ainsley hesitated, caught in the middle of her desire and her fear. Suddenly she walked over to the diving board, and bent her small life-jacketed body over it, and bowed her head.
“She’s praying,” her mom said. After her short prayer for courage, Ainsley stepped up on the diving board, walked to the edge, looked at her mom for final instructions and…jumped! As she emerged from the splashes and cheers of her proud mom and onlookers, a series of emotions swept across her face—terror, relief, and finally elation. “I want to do it again!” she said. And she did, many more times.
I have a feeling that “diving board prayers” are some of our Father’s favorite prayers to hear and answer. Those prayers give Him permission to change the unchangeable, to transform hearts, and awaken our praise and wonder as we witness His power displayed…all because we stopped to ask for a little help. Only when we will are willing to faith-dive into the waters of complete dependence on Him will we truly know the joy of Jesus’ abundant life.
Whatever our “diving boards” are, we always have the choice to bow humbly and “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb. 4:16, NIV)
*Twice a month, we send out a short devotional to our volunteers. This devotional was written by Andrea Keele and sent out June 5, 2014.
