Swimming at the Gretna pool is a fine way to while away a Sunday afternoon — especially when you’re wading in the water with church friends and church kids.
I was minding my own business in the shallow end when a line of kids started bouncing toward me in the water on their tip toes.  “Toss me! Toss me!”

I happily obliged, because there is something strangely rewarding about tossing little kids in a swimming pool. “Again, again!” Again I obliged. Then again and again and again until my 42 (soon to be 43) year-old shoulder started feeling the burn. Ibuprofen erased the stiffness but nothing will erase the memories. I can still hear the giggles and feel the water splashing. I wasn’t the only dad who became a human catapult — there were several of us. For a few minutes we stopped the clock and soaked in the moment. Kids being kids, dads being dads.

It takes a lot of trust to let someone toss you into the air but kids don’t seem to have much angst about it; they just enjoy the flight. And in exchange for their trust, they reach heights they could never have reached by themselves. Maybe it’s the sunscreen talking but I smile when I think of Jesus saying, “Let the little children come to me.” (Matthew 19:14) I laugh when I think of Him tossing kids around in the Jordan River. “Throw me, Jesus! Again! Again!” When the Christ spoke those words in Matthew’s gospel, He had a line of kids waiting for Him — not for a toss in the pool but for prayer. His grownup disciples complained, “These children are churlish!” But Jesus intervened and prayed with them, for “…the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)

Sometimes the words of Jesus are a refreshing leap into the pool on a hot afternoon. When I’m trusting God, the kingdom of earth becomes far more heavenly. I’m not so worried about getting splashed, falling in, or drowning in worry. But when my grownup mind, floundering in fear, takes over, the Kingdom of heaven is far away.

To be clear, following God doesn’t mean we abandon reason; it means we embrace the powerful love of our creator. Many times, kids don’t have as much trouble with that as adults. The heart of a child delights to dive into the loving arms of God because they trust Him. If kids can trust me to toss them into a pool, how much more can kids of all ages trust God — both to care for us and to launch us into heights we never could have reached on our own?

Jesus was once a kid, too. Even though He was God, He learned how to trust and obey His Father. That trust found it’s greatest expression not in a pool but a garden, where Jesus prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) He showed childlike faith but He wasn’t childish. He allowed Himself to be executed so that we could have life. When we come to Him with that trust, He takes us into His arms. Sometimes He holds us close. But, sometimes, He launches us into places we could never go on our own.

He’s not traumatizing us; He’s teaching us. God longs for His children to swim into His arms with trust, begging to be launched again and again. Want to do what you’ve never done before, and reach new heights like never before? Do you trust God enough to let Him toss you?

Author – Gregg Madsen is the Lead Pastor of Steadfast Gretna.

Invitation for you!

If you want God to toss you in new directions so that you can do new thing, and reach new heights, repeat this short prayer, Dear God, you are the Lord of the Harvest, and you have your eye on my storms, you are the CEO of the entire world and I give you permission to toss me gently in new directions so that I can reach new heights, see new things and do new things, I want to break out from the stagnation that has tried to keep me in a chokehold, in Jesus name, I ask and pray, amen -Author – Evangelist Wendy Evans