Baggage Claim — Unzipped - Thursday
Today’s Verse
Psalm 69:1-3
Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. (ESV)
I’m not a preacher, so I rarely get the classic preacher privilege: recycling stories. But every once in a while, a story is just too good (or too accurate) to use only once. So yeah, we’re going back to the catamaran.
Leah and I were on our honeymoon, and we signed up for a snorkeling excursion. Everyone grabbed fins and masks, and no one—I’d like to stress this—literally no one grabbed a life jacket. So I didn’t either. As soon as I got in the ocean, I quickly realized I was in over my head (not literally… yet). I can’t swim well, and it turns out all that cardio training I never did was catching up with me fast. I didn’t opt to float or tread water (I’m not good at those things either), I just started “swimming” non-stop, panic-looping around back to the boat like someone trying to act confident while internally freaking out. I never stopped moving until I got back to the boat, climbed the ladder, grabbed a life jacket like my life depended on it (because it kind of definitely did), took a second to breathe… and then got back in.
I’ve found that sometimes life works exactly like that. You enter a new season thinking you’re good emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. But halfway through, you realize: I am not okay! Psalm 69 captures it perfectly: “I am weary with my crying out… My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.”
I felt that floodwater again when we lost our dog, Woodrow, a couple of weeks ago. He’d been with us for nearly ten years. He was loyal, stubborn, a little ridiculous, and a very real part of our family. Losing him hurt more than I expected. There’s this strange weight that follows grief, especially in the quiet. It feels like emotional collapse.
Elijah had that moment in 1 Kings 19. After his victory came emotional collapse. He told God, “I’ve had enough.” And God’s response wasn’t lightning or lectures. It was food, rest, and presence. The “life jacket” God provided didn’t look flashy; it just worked and was exactly what was needed.
That’s what I look for now: Scripture, worship music, honest conversations, humorous stories from the past, and friends who check in.
Sometimes I look at Woodrow’s collar. It’s hung up in the garage. He was a gift, as all pets are. At times, he served kind of like a four-legged life jacket with terrible breath.
REFLECTION
Are you avoiding conversations, realizations, or reconciliations because you think you should be stronger? What’s God’s offering to you in this season that you need to accept?
