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Jump into the deep end

When you feel like a terrified kid at the end of a diving board, remember God your Savior loves you and is waiting with open arms to catch you.

Last summer, I spent a couple of weeks poolside watching my kids try their first year of swimming lessons. Even though this was a new endeavor, I was happy to see their instruction proceeding uneventfully—until it was time to jump off the diving board.

A scary situation

None of my children had ever jumped into the deep end before. Though they approached it with a certain amount of trepidation, they nonetheless leapt off the board into the waiting arms of the lifeguard below.

I smiled as I saw them jump. I felt proud to see them take a risk. But they felt the opposite.

They hated it.

I could see the anguish on their faces when they came out of the water. They had never jumped into the deep end before, so when their heads slipped under the surface and their feet found no purchase, they experienced pure terror. One of my kids cried for a full half hour after that incident!

Their fear perplexed me. Didn’t they know they were perfectly safe? Sure, they couldn’t swim well and the water was deep, but didn’t they know that the lifeguard was going to take care of them when they were scared?

Our heavenly lifeguard

I felt abashed when I realized that spiritually I am no different from my kids—and neither are you.

Even if we aren’t afraid of a diving board, when things get dangerous, we routinely forget that we have our own personal Lifeguard on duty 24/7. His name is Jesus!

Plenty of things in life can terrify us. Every time we turn on the news or look at our phones, there’s a devastating story to trouble us. We worry about our kids, our jobs, our relationships, our waistlines, and our bank accounts. We walk around with the heavy weight of grief or guilt or illness. All of these stressors can feel like deep water, and in light of them, it’s easy to feel like we can’t keep our heads above water.

God knows this. No one knows our problems more intimately than him. That is why he sent his Son, Jesus, to take care of us. Jesus bought us back from the clutches of sin, death, and the devil through his perfect life, brutal death on a cross, and resurrection. We stand spotless before God, and heaven is ours through faith in Jesus. A God who is that powerful is worth trusting when we are scared!

Our hope doesn’t hang exclusively on the happy hereafter of heaven though—God is here today! God promises to be with us always (Matthew 28:20) and dutifully guards our daily lives, as Psalm 121 states: “I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (verses 1-4).

Biblical reassurances

Even with all these assurances from God, life will still scare us at times. Try as we might to ignore it, we are human. So when we get scared, God’s promises can calm us.

  • “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 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 43:1,2).
  • “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).
  • “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior. He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me” (2 Samuel 22:2,3,17,18).

We have our own personal Lifeguard on duty 24/7. His name is Jesus!

Until we reach the glory of heaven, we will have times when we feel like a terrified kid at the end of a diving board, but God our Savior loves us and is waiting with open arms to catch us.

So there’s no reason to be afraid—our Lifeguard is on duty! We can jump into the deep end and know that we are safe in our Savior’s arms, no matter what comes our way.

This article originally appeared as a blog for Time of Grace, timeofgrace.org.

Author: Katie Augustine
Volume 112, Number 07
Issue: July 2025