Nobody asks a surfer why the wave isn’t smoother.
A good wave has twists in it. Drops. Moments where the whole thing seems about to fold over and take you under. The skilled surfer doesn’t wait for a calmer wave — there isn’t going to be one worth riding. He reads the one he’s on. He positions himself inside the chaos instead of resisting it, and somehow that’s exactly where the ride becomes possible.
Most people want their life to be the calm wave. Steady, predictable, no sudden drops. And when it isn’t — when it gets bumpy, when the twist comes without warning, when something stomach-churning shows up out of nowhere — the instinct is to brace, to fight the board, to wait it out until it’s over.
But you were never actually promised a smooth ride. You were promised something better and stranger: that whatever you’re on is being carried by something steadier than the wave itself.
This doesn’t mean pretending the drop doesn’t feel like a drop. It means you’re allowed to feel the stomach-churn and still give yourself permission to enjoy this — to actually celebrate being mid-ride, rather than holding your breath until you reach calmer water that may not be coming.
Relax into the turns. Not because they’re not real, but because you are not riding them alone, and you were never meant to fight the board the whole way down.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
This is the ride. Give yourself permission to enjoy it.
Discover more from a fish out of water
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.