Beth Hungerford

Stop Fighting Part II – by Guest Blogger, Beth Hungerford

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Jana is preparing for a marriage retreat. But she will be back on Monday with a special blog about Wrinkle Release!! Some of Jana’s recent posts are available here.

Enjoy this great story from Beth.

So you would think that after my encounter with the ocean waves I would have learned my lesson about fighting against the Lord. Apparently I am a really slow learner.

About a month later, I went to one of my favorite places to spend time with the Lord…a large rock that hangs out over the river.  I have many conversations with Him while out there picking pieces and sometimes large chunks off of the rock.

This time I was working particularly hard at trying to get off a large piece that was just loose enough to make me think I could get it.  I heard Him again telling me that I was still fighting.

“But I really want to get this piece off.”

“Stop fighting.  You don’t have to work that hard.  Just worry about the really loose ones.”

I wouldn’t listen.  He kept gently repeating Himself and even told me exactly where to go on the rock but I still insisted on trying to get the pieces that just weren’t ready to come off.

I think He finally got tired of me not listening and insisting on fighting so He let me suffer the consequences.

I was looking down at a lot of small cuts and nicks on my hands from where the rock kept breaking off (instead of coming off in chunks like it usually did). The Lord said, “Those hurt didn’t they?”

“Yes,” I said as I went back to pulling on a large piece of stubborn rock.

Then He said, “You know, you’re only getting hurt when you’re fighting.  Just stop fighting.”

“I will just as soon as I get this…”

Right at that moment it gave way or at least part of it did…my hand slipped and my finger got cut deep enough that I now have a scar.

Now fast forward about a week.  I went back to the rock this time fully committed to working where the Lord told me and only pulling on the pieces He gave me permission to pull on.  At one point He said “look where you are.”  I looked down to see that I was stretched out as far as I could over the water and that’s when it clicked.  I had been upset and angry about cutting my finger because I really was going to obey once I had gotten that piece off.  But… had the Lord not stopped me and allowed me to continue while I was still fighting and not listening, I would have been in the river.  He had protected me until I was ready to handle what He had for me.

Stop Fighting – by Guest Blogger, Beth Hungerford

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This past September I went to the Dominican Republic to visit my friend.  My favorite day of the whole trip was the day we went to a secluded beach to swim in the ocean.  We swam out pretty far from shore and just floated up and down with the waves.

However, these were not small waves and I kept finding myself coughing and spitting out salt water after getting smacked in the face.  I got really tired of this really quickly but I just couldn’t seem to do anything about it.

Then I heard the Lord say quite clearly, “Stop fighting.”

“I’m not fighting I’m just trying not to drown,” I responded getting another mouthful of salt water.

“Stop fighting.”

That’s when I started watching the two local boys that were out there with us.  They had lots of experience swimming out in the waves and I realized they just dove straight into them.   I tried this and found that it was much easier than bracing myself or trying to fight them.

Soon I was tired and started swimming toward shore. If you’ve ever done this, you know that you swim and swim but never really get anywhere because the receding waves pull you right back out.

Again I heard the Lord’s voice, “Stop fighting.”

“I’m not!  I’m just trying to get back to shore.”

My way clearly wasn’t working, so again I watched the local boys and learned that the only way to get back in was to swim hard with the incoming waves, but then you just relax and let the waves pull you back a little, repeating the process until you’re all the way in.  It is slow going but you use way less energy when you let the waves do the work and don’t try to fight against them.

At last I was close enough to stand and I immediately tried to run out of the water before the next wave came to overtake me.  I still hadn’t gotten it.  I didn’t even get three steps toward shore before a giant wave picked me off my feet and slammed me into the ground.

“Stop fighting.”

“I didn’t even know I was!”

What I ended up having to do was let the water bring me all the way up on shore and I mean ALL THE WAY.  The waves were so strong that to stand up even when it was little more than ankle deep you would be caught be the next wave before you could get out and you’d get a not so gentle landing on the rocky shore.

When it was all over, I realized the Lord was trying to get me to completely surrender and let Him do all the work.  I really didn’t have to do anything except listen and respond to His voice.