Lessons From A Fish
Written by Brenda Kennison
In 2003 Disney and Pixar released their epic film, “Finding Nemo,” a DVD that became loved and well-worn. The film follows Marlin, a clown fish struggling with deep loss and insecurities. After losing his wife and family to the ocean, Marlin is left alone to raise his only surviving child, Nemo. He vows never to let anything happen to his son. A loving and responsible father, Marlin keeps his noble promise throughout Nemo’s early years. However, Marlin’s fear and distrust of the sea builds, and he struggles with his inability to let go of Nemo as his son begins school. When Nemo is suddenly taken away, Marlin must try to find in himself the courage, wisdom, and faith needed to search the unpredictable ocean, the very characteristics he needs to allow his son to learn and grow.
Along his journey Marlin meets Dory, an aquatic Good Samaritan who offers to help Marlin on his journey to find his son. She is certainly an odd partner for such a quest, but her optimism proves an invaluable quality to help Marlin overcome the impossible.
Ocean life for the fish in “Finding Nemo” doesn’t sound much different from our human life above sea level. Both of my sons were hitting new milestones with the oldest turning 9 and the youngest 5. Stretching and exploring their newest levels of independence sometimes brought elation and confidence, but other times defeat and discouragement – in them as children, and me as a parent. Taking advice gleaned from Dory in “Finding Nemo,” we adopted the phrase, “Just keep swimming,” as our family mantra. It helped us to stay focused on three things:
Don't give up! It gave us the hope to persevere through hard times and finish strong.
Take action to survive! It reminded us that we had the power to overcome and that we must keep moving to get through difficult times.
You will not drown! We have the ability to handle stressful situations with empathy, enthusiasm, and motivation.
One of the scariest and most unpredictable times in my life was teaching my oldest to drive. Overly confident and extremely distractible, my son often found himself in the thick of traffic unable to think and froze. Much to my fear and angst, and trying not to shout or lose my cool, all while grasping the overhead handle in a death grip, I’d “calmly” remind him (and me) to just keep swimming, just keep swimming. . . in order to get to safety so we could then process the situation.
Not much has changed since those driving lessons fifteen years ago. Life is consistently unpredictable and challenging, and even though my sons are now 26 and 30, I’m constantly reminding them to just keep swimming.
As a born-again, filled with the Holy Spirit Christian, that phrase from years past has morphed from just keep swimming, to just keep seeking. The change in just that one word has HUGE implications for learning how to navigate life as a new believer!
God instructs us in Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened."
When we learn to “just keep seeking, just keep seeking,” we choose to put ourselves in a place of safety and security under God’s covering so we can process the situation with the Holy Spirit. (Psalm 91)
Don't give up! With the Holy Spirit as our coach, helper, and biggest cheerleader, we have hope to persevere through hard times and finish strong.
Romans 15:13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Take action to survive! I have dunamis power within me to thwart the enemy and persevere and overcome all of life’s difficult situations.
Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.
You will not drown! I have the ability to handle stressful situations with empathy, enthusiasm, and motivation.
The fruit of the Spirit is a manifestation of Christ's character in me and in my life (Galatians 5:22-23).
The Holy Spirit helps me to develop these characteristics.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Just keep seeking!
