Pushed In

“He said to them, ‘Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.’” - Jonah 1:12 
 
 
One night, a billionaire was hosting a party at his mansion. It got towards the end of the night and the billionaire decided to bring his guests outside for this last piece of entertainment. He invited his guests to his backyard to look at his pool full of alligators.  
 
The guests rallied around the pool, and they were looking at these alligators. This billionaire was known to do weird and extravagant dares and so he said, “as a matter of fact, before we leave tonight, I dare someone to jump from this end of the pool and swim to the other side of the pool… 
 
If you make it out alive, I will give you your weight in gold.” There was a hush over the party. He said, “As a matter of fact, I will up the ante. Not only will I give you your weight in gold, but I will also throw in this mansion you see behind me.”  
 
Nobody stepped up or said anything and he sort of chuckled. He understood why no one stepped up. But just as he’s getting ready to dismiss his party guests, they hear a splash behind them. They turn and see this man swimming and fighting for his life, trying to get to the other end of the pool. 
 
Alligators were chomping at the bit to get to him every step of the way. This man is fighting off alligators for what seems like an eternity. He finally makes it to the other side of the pool. As he makes it over, he jumps out of the pool, lands on his feet, and bends over in exhaustion, ready to throw up over what just took place. 
 
Party guests rally around him, asking him if he is okay. The billionaire pushes through the crowd, finally getting to the man. He tells the man, “I am a man of my word. I will give you your weight in gold and this mansion behind me, but I’ve got to ask you first, what possessed you to do such a thing?”  
 
The man looked up at him, and out of breath and exhausted, he said, “I don’t care about a mansion or gold, point me in the direction of the man who pushed me in.”  
 
Have you ever been pushed into a situation you were not ready for? Have you ever felt like God pushed you into a set of circumstances you didn’t ask for, and you had to fight with everything you had to make it through? Maybe God is “pushing you in the pool” right now. Maybe He is challenging you. Maybe He is leading you out of your comfort zone.  
 
The question is: what are you going to do next? Are you going to fight like this man did? Are you going to give it all you’ve got to make it to the other side? Or are you going to give up and quit? The choice is yours. But you just might be surprised at what awaits you on the other side of the pool God has pushed you into.