Daily Journal: 22 July

The Man who Swam

for Twenty Years

When we are hard-pressed, we have to make choices. We don’t always have great choices to choose from. Often, they’re just the best choices we can make under the circumstances.

There was a man who had two choices. To get to his job he could either catch a bus and travel for three hours around a river. Or, he could swim for fifteen minutes across that river. He chose to swim. For twenty years, every day, he swam across the river to teach maths at a school. But each day he arrived at school, he was really teaching commitment, resilience, and character.

Psalm 37:3 (NIV)

Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Choices give us a way forward. When we have a way forward, no matter how hard or for how long, we must choose to have hope. We have to stay resolved in that hope. Our choice to have hope or not have hope, changes our final outcome. Where we place our hope should bring us confidence.

Psalm 37:4-6, 11 (NIV)

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun…. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.

I have a choice today. You have a choice today. Plant your feet in faith for another day, or step outside of faith. Where does your hope come from?

The man who swam for twenty years knew what he needed, what he was doing, and why he was doing it. He placed his confidence in his purpose, and in his ability to swim, whether it rained or whether it was sunny, whether he felt fed up or not. He kept swimming across the river to teach kids who would ultimately remember him for his daily tenacity and commitment to them. That’s called a legacy.

You may not feel like you have strength, or like life is fair, but your tenacity to do what is good will leave a legacy that will remain.