I'm in over my head.

You know what that feels like, right? I do.

I never was a very confident swimmer. As a kid we would go to the city pool. But I wasn't like many of my friends who were daredevils off the diving boards, racers between the lane ropes, and daringly dangerous in the "horsing around" pursuits.

I liked the pool. I just often felt over my head.

I even was required to take swimming as a course in middle school. Even I could see the wisdom of that. Neither of my parents could swim. They often warned us about the dangers of water (probably contributing to my fear of the depths). My swim instructor didn't help things. He got mad one day and made us do pushups the entire hour on the wet pool deck. (He got in a LOT of trouble when parents started calling). It was actually a slow slide for the teacher. He's one of those predator types you read of in the news-he is still, even now in prison. (I went to middle school a few years ago, that gives you an insight to this guy).

I liked the pool. I still felt over my head.

Then it all changed. It changed in Little Rock of all places. Dianna and I were on our way to attend our very first Southern Baptist Convention (talk about feeling "over my head"), and we stopped at a nice Hotel with a pool. We were the only one's there. Dianna and I spent considerable time swimming. And maybe for the first time, I grew increasingly comfortable in the deep end. After that trip, throughout the summer Dianna and I made a weekly trip to an Aunt & Uncle of Dianna's who had a pool. Each week my confidence grew.

I still like the pool. I doubt I'll ever be a great swimmer. There are times when I still feel over my head.

What do you do in those situations?

Jesus saw the disciples have an "over their heads" moment. It went like this: (Matthew 17)

At the foot of the mountain, a large crowd was waiting for them. A man came and knelt before Jesus and said, 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son. He has seizures and suffers terribly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 So I brought him to your disciples, but they couldn't heal him."...

Jesus rebuked the demon in the boy, and it left him. From that moment the boy was well.19 Afterward the disciples asked Jesus privately, "Why couldn't we cast out that demon?"20 "You don't have enough faith...

What was the problem? They were in over their heads.

Do you ever feel that? Are there times when you know you are over your heads? Are you in over your "faith"?

Sometimes I think, we like the disciples, miss the point of it all.

They were asking, "Why can't we do that?" What they should have been doing was marveling that Jesus is never, (let me repeat that), JESUS IS NEVER over his head.

What are you facing on this day? Feeling uncomfortable? Feeling like you need more skill, more practice, more time to just "get comfortable"?

Maybe you just need to step back and marvel that when you are at your wits end, you are in the right place for Jesus to step up and do what you cannot do.