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Bulletin 158 Date : 15th Mar 2009
A fish sees water last

I have no idea who originally coined this phrase but it has stayed with me ever since I first heard it. Imagine a gold fish swimming around in its tank, admiring the view of your living room and the various ornaments which you have provided for it to make its environment more exciting and decorative. I wonder what it makes of its surroundings as it weaves its way through the little arches and the vegetation and dives aimlessly towards the stones at the bottom of the tank. And yet, does it actually see the water in the tank?

However, if I were in that tank swimming around, I doubt whether I would take much notice of any of these things. You see I would be more concerned with the fact that I can’t survive in water. I can’t breathe, I can’t open my eyes properly, and I certainly wouldn’t take much delight in the arches and vegetation. But for the gold fish, water is its natural environment. It was created for water and can only survive when in water. It takes water for granted and in a real sense, does not see the water – it takes it for granted.

How many times do I take for granted the blessings of God? I got up early this morning and went to the river. It was a beautifully, sunny, spring-like morning just waiting for me to take my camera and tripod and capture some of the brilliant scene which God has provided for us all. It would have been tempting to stay in bed that little bit longer and simply miss out on this gift. How many times do we dive into our cars and wrestle with the gridlock on our roads, failing to see the wonder of nature all around us? The nesting sparrows are not concerned about gridlock - they simply delight in God’s creation and live in harmony with it. How many times do we see God’s blessings last?

How many times do we walk into church and exchange swift pleasantries with people without taking the time to discover the joys and sadness in their lives? And yet we were created to be relational people, giving to and receiving from one another in the rich fabric of daily life.

The same is true in our mission and evangelism. We gear ourselves up to ‘take God’ into a hurting world, not realizing that God is already there before we even thought about reaching out. It is staggering to see how the debate about God and faith is raging within society. There are many programmes on TV which focus on faith issues at present and I believe that God’s Spirit is stirring people up to challenge the materialism all around us. As Rowan Williams aptly said, “Mission is discovering what God is already doing in the world – and then joining in”.

As Christians, we can take for granted what God is doing because our natural environment is to be in God’s presence. Just like the gold fish, we need to focus on that which gives us life and is all around us. The pictures I have added to this bulletins show us how things some way off may be in perfect focus while that which is close by, we fail to see clearly. Take time today to look at those things you take for granted. Take more time in your conversations to identify what God is seeking to say to you and to the people around you. Don’t be like the fish who sees water last – recognize God in the ordinary, everyday things – and give thanks!