The Journey Across
“And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ”
We all know octopuses live in the water. But an octopus native to Northern Australia, featured on BBC’s The Hunt, is different. If you’d like to, take a moment to watch the video here (WARNING: DON’T WATCH IF YOU DON’T LIKE SQUIRMY THINGS!) In short, at low tide, this octopus will climb onto dry land and crawl (yes crawl on tentacles) to other tide pools to find food. Now, it’s not that the octopus is forced to move, because it could survive in one pool until the tide comes in. But this octopus knows that it is more likely to thrive if it finds food elsewhere while waiting for the water to come back in at high tide.
Likewise, what we do in the journeys with our illnesses makes the difference between thriving and just merely surviving. Like the octopus, we choose between staying in a safe place or going out of our comfort zone, which likely carries a greater reward. We can decide to do nothing - no fighting, no moving forward, no trying to see what good can come of our situations - until our illnesses resolve themselves. Or, we can decide to not let the ebb stop us, and take the risk to traverse over the bumpy and unaccommodating environment.
For us, crawling over unfamiliar and jagged terrain is a very personal journey, as it is for the octopus that travels alone. This journey could be something as little as continuing to participate in activities during an active flare, or it could mean finding and pursuing God’s purpose for our illnesses. Similarly, it could mean determining that we will not let our illnesses control our lives. Whatever the application may be, it’s not an easy trek.
Out on the land, it’s dry, it’s full of sharp edges, and it seems much larger and longer than it appeared. But once we make the decision to move forward, we find that somehow we successfully navigated the first step. Then, we continue to make it across the intimidating terrain from one pool to another, from flare relief to flare relief, calm to calm, glory to glory.
Through the guiding of the Holy Spirit and strength from God, we make it over the rough patches to find that there are indeed rewards for our perseverance. We gain confidence and build faith on that path. We see that God will sustain us over the rocks and through the narrow passes. We learn that God is on the land as much as He is in the water - He’s sovereign over all and He never abandons us. God equips us to move from place to place, even on the dry land that is not meant for us to withstand. We are reminded that “The Lord will guide [us] always; he will satisfy [our] needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen [our] frame.” (Isaiah 58:11) On this journey, we are driven to trust that, up ahead, God has provided and prepared another pool for us, where we can catch our breath and regain the energy we need for the next hike. And, of course, there’s always the promise of the tide coming in once again, giving us the opportunities to enjoy abundance and flourish.
Those who stay in the pool may not have the trying and difficult experience of walking across the dry land. But they also don’t grow as much, don’t understand God in the same ways, and don’t get the same rewards. The octopus that walked on land was the one that got featured in the show, after all. God’s intention for us is not to hide and shrink back, or to avoid anything that could make our life harder. He calls us to walk boldly, to walk by faith, and to walk over all terrains, both rough and smooth, fully trusting Him.