Introspection: Jellyfish and Currents

I originally shared these thoughts, in a much less developed form, with a group at a Salkehatchie camp. I share them here, hoping that they are of help to someone else.


Jellyfish and Currents

Scripture:

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."

John 8:12

And this is how it feels when I
Ignore the words You spoke to me
And this is where I lose myself
When I keep running away from You
And this is who I am when
When I don't know myself anymore
And this is what I choose when
It's all left up to me

From "Breathe Into Me" by Red

I was walking on the beach recently, and I saw a jellyfish lying on the beach, stranded. This is a pretty common sight for beach-goers, but, for me, this sight hit really close to home.

Up until the last few years of my life, I never really cared about anything. I spent most of my life living without passion, drive, or purpose. I never got involved in anything meaningful. I just... drifted.

The problem with living this way is that drifting can lead a person somewhere that he or she really does not want to be, much like the way a jellyfish ends up stranded on the beach. In the past couple of years, I have come to learn that lesson the hard way. I did not seek meaning in life, so I should not have been surprised when I did not find any. In fact, I had previously used the analogy of the beached jellyfish to describe how I felt.

The same week that I saw the jellyfish, I was sitting in a Bible study, signing up for an online group to carry on the things we had been studying. It was then that I realized that going with the flow can sometimes have good results. For example, when I went on my first mission trip in college, I was pretty much going with the flow, doing what my friends were doing. There were several other such opportunities that I participated in at the urging of friends.

So why does going with the flow sometimes have good results, while other times it leaves one stranded and helpless? What makes the difference?

The answer is the current. A person who drifts around, following any current has no idea where he is going or how he will end up. A person who lets God be his current, on the other hand, knows that God will lead him where he needs to be. Christ has promised to guide us through the darkness of this world if we will follow Him, the Light of the World.

To you, the reader, I urge you not to drift your way through life. Let God be your current, and swim with all your might.


Jellyfish photo by Lee R. Berger is used under the GNU Free Documentation License.