So me and my namesake Cedric Jr. (Little “C”) were in a two-man kayak in a cove on the beautiful island of Kona, Hawaii not long ago and an unexpected panic situation surely took at least two days off of my life during the ordeal.  But, alas my secret weapon once again saved the day and I’m still here to tell the story.

Trolling around in the cove at the Fairmont Kialani Resort Hotel in Kona was good, but as many of you may already know we were looking to Make it GREAT.  So we thought we’d venture outside of the cove to test the excitement of the open ocean.  Now I know I talk a lot about overcoming fear and adversity, but if I would’ve known what was in-store for us beyond the boundaries of the cove, I would’ve definitely chose another way to make it great,  LOL.

So there we were paddling past the maximum point with our eyes on the BIG Ocean.  When suddenly I had an urge to look back over my shoulder to see how far out we had gone.  WHOAAA!!!  We had covered an incredible amount of distance in the matter of only a few minutes.

“Ok, let’s turn around and paddle-on back little buddy,” I told Little “C”.  “Okay Dad,” he said with a cheeky smile.  So paddling we did.  To be honest, Little “C’s” paddle was pretty much just for show because I was really doing all the work behind him.  🙂

After a few minutes of paddling it suddenly occurred to me that we didn’t appear to be getting any closer to the beach.  In fact, it appeared that we were moving further and further away into the ocean because the people on the beach were getting smaller and smaller.  Hmmm…

So I started paddling harder and faster with more intent, but with every stroke the beach was not getting any closer and to top-it-off, my arms were getting really fatigued from all that paddling.

Ok, now this is just about when the first subtle wave of panic came over me.  As you can probably imagine, I was quietly freaking out at this time while Little “C” was totally oblivious to what was happening and what type of predicament we were in.  My first thought was to start yelling and screaming for help, but we were way too far out and no one would be able to hear us.  Then it hit me, BOOM!!! and all other types of scenarios of doom started to cross my mind.  Yikes!!!

“Ok, calm down, calm down.”  I told myself.  “Now what would Jesus do?” Well, from the old bible story where he calmed the sea for his buddies, I was hoping he could simply just do us a little favor and calm the waters and we could then just paddle-on back in.  But I figured that was probably a long-shot for us at the time.  Ughhh!!!

Well, now I’m fresh-out of ideas and at my wits end and panic and fear are continuing to slowly creep in.  Then it dawned on me.  “I got it!” I said and then pulled out my not-so-secret weapon.  The weapon that keeps me sane when things are a bit chaotic and crazy around me.  The weapon that keeps me cool and calm in the raging storms of life.  The sure-fire weapon that always manages to give me just a bit of a slight edge over the most intense moments of adversity and fear in my life.  What is this weapon you ask?  Well, it’s quite simply a little bit of “prayer.”  That’s right folks, good ole’ P-R-A-Y-E-R.

“Lord, I think I’ve screwed up again.  Can you help me to get out of this one please?”  I said under my breathe, and no I can’t tell you that the waters suddenly parted or an incredible gust of wind started blowing us to shore.  But what I can tell you is that the quietest internal voice made it clear to me almost immediately that we were in a “rip-current” that was slowly taking us out to sea and all we had to do was to paddle out of it to the left or the right side before attempting to head back to the beach.

Eureka!!!  That information had been deposited into my memory bank years ago but He knew the exact time that He would have to remind me of it and yes His timing was PERFECT!!!

This may come as a bit of a shock to some, but I truly believe that our Creator equips us with those things that we need to overcome those moments of adversity and challenges in our life.  We just have to have enough humility to ask for a little assistance from time-to-time to uncover and discover that which has already been placed inside of us.

So what adversity are you facing lately?  What fear has your mental muscles currently suffering from fatigue?  What challenge are you facing today that is obscuring your positive view for tomorrow?  Or, do you feel like you’re caught in a rip-current that’s taking you further and further from where you know you need to be?  Hmmm…

Little “C” and I did eventually make it safely back to the beach and the only one who was aware of what real danger we were in was me.  I’m sure glad I remembered my not-so-secret weapon and was humble enough to ask for a little bit of help.

I’d like to encourage you today to consider using my not-so-secret weapon in your own current and future situations and circumstance’s.  You just might be surprised at what happens next as a result.  I’m just saying…..

Let’s keep Making it GREAT!

www.CedricCrawford.com