Just Keep Swimming!

As related by John Cochran:

"It was a fog-shrouded morning, July 4, 1952, when a young woman named Florence Chadwick waded into the water off Catalina Island. She intended to swim the channel from the island to the California coast. Long-distance swimming was not new to her; she had been the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions.

"The water was numbing cold that day. The fog was so thick she could hardly see the boats in her party. Several times sharks had to be driven away with rifle fire. She swam more than 15 hours before she asked to be taken out of the water. Her trainer tried to encourage her to swim on since they were so close to land, but when Florence looked, all she saw was fog. So she quit. . . only one-mile from her goal.

"Later she said, “I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the land I might have made it.” It wasn’t the cold or fear or exhaustion that caused Florence Chadwick to fail. It was the fog."

Beginnings are exciting. There is nothing quite like the first day of school, of that first day on the job, of those first flushes of love, or of those first cries of a newborn baby. Remember those first days when you received Christ, and you were ON FIRE. Remember times when the hand of God was clearly at work in your life, orchestrating situations in ways that were undeniably divine…. In all of these things, at the beginning of each season, there is a sense of excitement, of enthusiasm, of vision. The world, we feel, is our for the taking.

Conversely, we also remember the endings in our lives, good and bad. The last day of school. Graduation. Leaving home. Break ups. Job transitions. Moving. Goodbyes. Deaths.

We can remember many beginnings. We can recall many endings. But most of life is lived in the middle, on the long road between the two. Yet nobody ever really remembers those mundane middles. In fact, in most stories, sandwiched between the "Once upon a time…" and the "And they lived happily ever after…" lies the middle of the story, the place where conflict is introduced, the main characters are challenged or hindered in their journey. But, then again, no good story can be sustained by the initial start of the story. It is the conflicts, challenges, and even setbacks that create the dramatic tension that drives the plot, and character, forward… and it is the HOPE of reaching a goal that keeps them moving ever forward in the face of doubt and discouragement. And along the way toward the conclusion of any given story, subplots and side stories are also conveyed in a similar fashion. Many times, authors write their books in such a way as to make each chapter answer some questions from previous chapters, while raising more; or resolving some minor conflict even while introducing yet another. That's part of the reason we find ourselves 'hooked' into a good television series.

We start off at 10,000 feet, and expect that's where we'll stay. Is it any wonder, then, when we find ourselves struggling with discouragement and disillusionment at points along those long, dusty roads between the vision and the fulfillment? Is it any wonder that, like Florence Chadwick, when we find ourselves in the fog, we begin to lose our bearings?

Verses on Perseverance in the Middle of the Journey

• Hebrews 12:1-4 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. 4 After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.

• Hebrews 12:12-13 So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13 Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.

• Philippians 3:12-14 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

• Galatians 6:9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.

• Isaiah 40:28-31 The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. 30 Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. 31 But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

• Matthew 11:28-30 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

If you're in the fog this morning, or if you feel like you've already signaled the boats, and have given up, don't despair. Don't feel like you've blown your opportunity. Don't dwell on the failed beginning, or the seemingly lost ending.

As John Cochran's story concludes, "Two months after her failure, Florence Chadwick walked off the same beach into the same channel and swam the distance, setting a new speed record, because she could see the land."

Press on toward the goal, and keep swimming!