Kevin Strait, a good friend of mine and Christian brother, told me the following this week, "A drowning man will reach for anything." This is one of those very plain thoughts fraught with deep meaning - the kind of thing that rumbles around in my brain for about a week causing lots of constructive damage.
As I have thought about this comment, I have been wondering which is worse - A.)to be a drowning man and reach for the wrong thing or B.) to be drowning and not know it because you won't reach for anything then? A drowning man becomes desperate. He has one thing on his mind - survival. And "they" always tell you never to try to rescue a drowning man while he is panicking. No matter how good your intentions, the other person may not behave rationally. And if you drown trying to save someone else, more than likely you both die.
I've personally experienced this reaction with my nephew, Scott. Once I tried to help him in the pool. I was trying to get him to swim and explore the deep end of the pool. He was fine until he suddenly realized that he was in way over his head. All the swimming skills and confidence that he had learned seemed to instantly disappear. Fear overtook him he started to panic. He began to scream for help. He violently moved his arms and acted like someone who had no idea how to swim. He wasn't in any real danger until he realized that he had never been this deep before. Nothing really changed in the water or his swimming ability from the four feet section to the six feet section. He could have easily swum the few feet to the area of the pool where he could stand up. But that didn't really matter. I tried to move in and help him. And he literally grabbed hold of me and pushed me down into the water. He was basically trying to use me as a ladder to keep his head above the surface. I broke free and swam away. Then I told him that I was going to help him but not until he calmed down. I told him to dog paddle and try to swim like he did in the four feet section. While he tried this, I dove under the water and came up behind him. I quickly put my arm around him, tilted his head back, and told him it was going to be alright. I put him in a position where I had control of his body as he laid on his side. He stopped struggling, and then I swam both of us to safety.
Sometimes this is a picture of our relationship with God. We need rescuing and don't know how to be rescued. We try to do whatever we can to survive. And in the process, we endanger us and others. Desperation can be a good thing when it comes to the spirit life. It can get us to the place where we will let God help us. Too many people are drowning spiritually in this world and they don't even know it. They don't think they need to be saved. They think that they are fine on their own. But desperation can be a bad thing if we try to direct the rescue or reach for the wrong thing.
Lord, may I give up trying to rescue myself. May I come to the end of my efforts so that You can truly save me. May I not panic. Instead, cause my desperation to lead me into Your arms. Build up my confidence in Your ability to rescue me. Cause me to trust You and realize the areas where I may be drowning. May I not endanger Your work or others in the process of getting to firm ground. I thank You that you hold the waters of the entire earth in the cup of Your hand. May I not reach for the wrong things but always take the hand of those You send. Thank You for loving me and being there to always pluck me from danger. Amen.
