Download your free guide to “8 Signs That You’re Overwhelmed and How to Overcome It.”

When my mother was a young woman she allowed children that she supervised at her job convince her to slide down the pool water slide, despite her fear of water.   Reluctantly, she slid down the water slide and once she hit the water, she began fighting desperately for her life as she started to drown.

She recounts hearing screaming and voices from the people around who were witnessing her traumatic fight for survival. Eventually, she was able to make out a voice shouting, “stand up Mrs. Jordan, stand up!” Soon, she stopped fighting and when she “stood up” the water stopped at her knees.

Sometimes life can get so overwhelming that we feel as if we have been pushed into the deep end and that we are about to drown. Sometimes we get flooded with so many things at once that we end up drowning in waters that we would have normally survived in. Sometimes we move so fast and fight so hard against the currents that what should have been a ripple becomes a huge tidal wave in our lives.  Even if you know how to swim and are actually a pretty good swimmer, if you fight against or tread the waters long enough, you will eventually get tired and drown anyway.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you…”  Isaiah 43:2 (NIV) 

The choice is yours, you can drown fighting against the waters or you can listen to God and stand on His promises.  When you trust God with your life and follow His leading, you will realize that the waters that you thought you would drown in, weren’t as deep as you once believed.

It is said that most people who drown while trying to rescue someone else do so because the person drowning panics and fights the person that’s trying to save them, and eventually they both go under and drown.

Sounds like us against God at times. How often do we fight against God and the things and people He is trying to save us from?  How often do we trust God until things don’t go the way we expected them to go and then we began to panic and start fighting again, only making a bad situation worse.
Not guilty of this?  Well, how often do you jump into troubled waters trying to save someone else and because they are fighting the help you are trying to provide and fighting God, they end up taking you under with them?  

God is not like man, He can’t drown and when you trust God enough to stop fighting and allow Him to do the rescuing, you will never go under. Even if God doesn’t get in the water to pull you out, if you calm down, be still and listen, you will hear Him providing you with the instructions on what to do, saying, “Just stand up!”

How To Avoid Drowning In Troubled Waters

#1  Don’t drown trying to save yourself.

If you saw a someone who couldn’t swim drowning in the middle of the ocean and when you offered them a life preserver, they refused it and said, “I can save myself,” what do you think would happen? Guess what… that person may have been you a time or two. How many times have you been drowning in your own troubles and sorrows and instead of accepting God’s help or asking him to rescue you, you try to do it on your own? Trusting God to rescue you is saving yourself.  Stop drowning in the waters that God has told you to stand up in and step out of.  It’s OK to ask for help. It’s OK to accept help.

#2  Stop treading water.

Swimmers often tread water when they get tired of swimming and want to rest without leaving the water.  The thing about treading water is, it keeps your head above water, but it also keeps you in the same place. Never get comfortable with just merely keeping your head above water.  If your head is the only thing above water, it won’t be long until your head joins the rest of your body. When your head is above water, it means that you are just barely making it, it means that you are constantly moving but going nowhere. Life is too short and God has given you too many gifts and talents for you to continue just treading the waters of life, but going nowhere while everyone and everything around you is constantly progressing. Use your time of treading to build your energy and strength back up and prepare for the swim of your life. There is a purpose for your troubled waters, but in order to find out what it is, you have to stop treading the waters and swim in the direction that God guides you. You can only tread those waters for so long, eventually you will be left with only two decisions…trust God or drown.

#3  Don’t fight the help.

Sometimes God sends help but we are so stuck on saving ourselves that we fight the people or the things that were meant to help us. Stop always thinking that everybody’s against you just because they don’t agree with you, have a different perspective, refuse to tolerate your mediocrity or entertain your mess.  Stop thinking that every difficult circumstance, obstacle or challenge is meant to harm you. A great sailor doesn’t become great by sailing in calm seas. Sometimes God will use troubled waters to build your strength, adversity to develop your faith, a random encounter to change your perspective, and one word from Him to shape your life!

#4  Don’t go under trying to save someone else.  

Listen good…there is a major difference between being saved by God and being God the Savior.  When you are saved by God, you carry the word of God in your heart and you share it with those who are drowning.  Let me be clear, YOU ARE NOT GOD THE SAVIOR, so stop risking your life, peace of mind, finances, reputation, etc. trying to save people who don’t want to be saved. Your job is not to save them. Only God can do that. Your job is to teach them how they too can be saved, model for them how a saved person lives, and support them in their journey.

#5  Take heed to the words that were said to my mother… “Stand up!”

I’ll be the first to admit that simply standing up isn’t always as easy as it may sound.  Sometimes it requires you to stand up to others and sometimes it requires you to stand up and confront yourself.  Even when it seems that you are about to drown, remember that God has made you some promises and His promises will not return void.  It doesn’t always take a dramatic scene, with cameras, social media, news coverage, and people to witness your rescue. It just takes courage, faith, patience and the ability to stop fighting and just simply stand up. Sometimes, the only witness others need is the witness that comes from the fruit of your lips about how God saved you when you were about to drown. Tell others how when you stopped fighting and just relaxed, God allowed you to just float on top of the waters that you thought would drown you until you reached a place where you could stand up.