Which One Are You?

By Grace Moon

Your faith journey cannot and should not be compared with others’ journeys. We’re all at different walks in life, and God only works when you accept yourself in the identity which He has made specifically for you. 

If this pool that you see was your faith in Jesus--your complete trust and confidence in him--which character would you be in this image? 

It was a perfect and undisturbed Friday afternoon when I was imposed with this question. My mentor, Mrs. White, pulled out this picture for our weekly mentoring session, and ever since then, I couldn’t get this image out of my head. 

For me, it was easy to find. I was definitely the one on the typewriter on the far-right corner. 

Maybe I chose that guy because I felt that the people in the pool were having too much fun to be actually productive. Perhaps I deemed my work ethic and my focus on my near future more important than--I don’t know--just sitting in the pool and taking a break. But then, I looked at the illustration again, and I realized that, no, I chose this man because I recognized that we both deliberately decided to prioritize our success over our relationship with God. 

That hit me pretty hard. 

Why wasn’t I the swimmer in the middle of the pool, leisurely taking his lap? I mean, after all, I was given all the things I need to have an excellent foundational relationship with God: my parents are missionaries, Dalat gave me multiple opportunities to question and learn about my faith, and no one has ever questioned or scrutinized me for my family’s beliefs and my parent’s careers. To everyone around me, I might have even looked to live a pretty noble life myself. 

But I digress. All that I say is excuses for me pushing away my “faith journey.” Sure, the environment could be perfect, but if I do not act upon my inherent desire to fulfill myself with a permanent source of life, then, well, I won’t have complete fulfillment. That’s just how it is. 

Life is offered to us by God to find our place on Earth as an advocate for His love and his desire for peace. But most of the time, we don’t fulfill our roles. For me, I’m still trying to figure out what it means to live a life where work and relationships can go hand in hand. For others, like Jong Min Park (12), there’s a slightly different narrative going on: “I feel like I’m the dude with the gear on the right. I’m willing to trust Jesus, but I’m scared to give up everything for him. Something that keeps me from having complete faith in him is me trying to implement my own life and my own expectations of my life to my faith.” 

But wherever we are in our walk of faith, one thing stands clear: no matter what, we must not doubt the fact that the pool is always open for us to dip our toes into, put our legs into, and ultimately, leisurely and peacefully swim in. God is, from what it seems, always welcoming us with open arms. 

So, why not take a chance and see if the water is warm enough for your liking?