My friend was basking on a blanket in the sun at a public swimming pool.  She happened to overhear a conversation between the mother and her preschooler next to her.  

He had to go to the bathroom.  Mom whispered, “Just go in the pool.”  So, he walked over and stood poolside, took aim, and relieved his bladder. True story!  

Speaking of swimming.  Do you swim?  If so, where do you prefer to swim?  Do they have a life preserver there?  Where do they store it?  Don’t know?  Most of us wouldn’t.

I think God is kinda like that life preserver.  Most of us believe that God exists, but we don’t always know where to find Him.

Well why don’t we know where the life preserver is?  Probably because we haven’t needed it.   The same is true of God.  Many of us don’t know or care about where He is – because we have seldom felt like we have needed Him.

But suppose you were to go swimming in the deep end, when you suddenly cramp up and start to sink.  Would you want to know where that life preserver is then? 

Consider the story of a young man named Josiah in 2 Chronicles 34:1-3.   Verse 1 says, “Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem.” Josiah was only 8 years old, and yet he was made the King of Judah.  Can you imagine – a king at age 8? 

Verse 2 says, “He did what the Lord approved and followed in his ancestor David’s footsteps; he did not deviate to the right or the left.”  Josiah was a religious kid who chose to do the right things from age 8 on!  He was a great kid. 

But then we read verse 3 which says, “In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his ancestor David.”  How strange!  He had been a good religious boy for the previous 8 years, but it wasn’t until age 16 that he began to eagerly seek after God.  What happened?

He discovered that the work of a King was overwhelming. He was in the deep end of the pool and sinking fast.  He deeply felt the need for God and therefore sought Him. 

He prayed like crazy and read God’s word for wisdom.   God heard his cry and helped Josiah become a really wonderful king during a very wicked time in the history of Judah. 

Maybe we all need to jump into a pool where the water is over our heads.  That’s where we will meet God. 

Do something daring for God that you have never done before.   Something that challenges you so much – you just know, like Josiah, that you need the Lord in order to do it. 

Volunteer to help with VBS.  Schedule a coffee with your unchurched neighbor and breech the subject of Jesus.  Offer to lead the next Bible study.  Join the next short term mission team bound for Cuba.  

The challenge will cause your prayer life to soar and will seriously increase your appetite for the Word.   As you dog paddle in the deep end, the Lord will meet you there.  He will be with you and do things for you that you just can’t imagine.  You and He will become much tighter!   

But wait!  You want to invite a friend to join you in your challenge?  Friends are great, but they can get in the way of experiencing God.  Suppose you were drowning and your friend is right next to you but then someone throws you a life preserver. 

Which one would you grab – the friend or the life preserver?   Most of us would choose the friend.  Friends can become an unintentional substitute for God.  So don’t be afraid to go it alone.

Little King Josiah believed the right things, but he wanted to personally know and experience the God behind it all. How about you?   

If so, rub on a little sunblock and dive in!

A PRAYER: Lord give me a challenge that will bring us closer together.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

Scripture passages are from the NETBible ®