Actively Passive

I love paradoxes. They are the story of salvation.
Tonight I heard the statement, "Jesus fixes all our problems when we trust Him, and then we can just enjoy life." We don't have to try to enjoy life - we just do when we focus on trusting Him with everything.
I love analogies as well. I'm going to use one right now.
As a vocalist, we have to be actively passive. In other words, we have to choose to be passive.
Our diaphragm is one of the main muscles that allows for breath flow within a phrase. It is attached to the bottom of the lungs and regulates how much air is being let out. The funny thing about the diaphragm though is that in order for it to work properly, it must relax. When you sing, you are not working that muscle, but rather letting it go free.
The problem is that when we sing we don't trust our diaphragm to regulate us throughout a phrase, and so we tense up and hold on to our breath - which only makes us lose it. But when we focus on letting the diaphragm do its job, then everything falls into place. Even though it feels like we're not in control anymore, we feel such a sense of freedom because something else is in control and all we have to do is trust it and come along for the ride.
Now you can see where this is going.
Jesus Christ is our diaphragm. He is our anchor that guides us through life, if we would only trust him. When we take our eyes off of Him like Peter did, and see the winds and waves of this world, we become fearful and we try to find refuge in our own strength - only to fail again. Matthew 10:39 says, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Our life is not our own, and freedom will only come through conscious surrender.
And even though giving our life over to Christ may seem like a rollercoaster, if we trust Him it'll turn out to be the best ride we've ever ridden. He may not "fix our problems" like how we expect - but that's the fun of it. Just like the diaphragm, we must dive off into the abyss and trust Him to carry us through. Just don't be surprised when He takes you someplace you could've never even imagined. :)