Tuesday, May 27, 2014

We Can Pass The Test

We never know what we will do in a given situation until we are in it. As believers, we hope and desire to serve our Messiah, Jesus, as He would have us serve Him. The question is, will we? When the test comes, will we face adversity head on, jumping in, or will we watch from the sidelines and just wait to see if everything turns out okay? Will we be watchers, or jumpers? This weekend I had an opportunity to find out in a very real way if Jesus was in me. Would I be a watcher, or a jumper? Paul says we are to be jumpers, especially husbands.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

My wife and daughter and I went camping at a local campground for an overnight stay on Sunday. I told them they could go swimming and I would set up camp. We got a late start, so I told them I needed their help to set up. This turned out to be a very good thing because it meant we all went swimming together. We finally got set up, and went to the pool. My daughter is just under five feet tall, so my wife and daughter stayed at the four foot area. I jumped in the deep end to get used to the water, then went to where they were. My daughter cannot swim, so I was trying to get her used to it. I got out and my wife continued to try to get her to remember that she had swam in the past. She is a special needs child, so she was afraid and did not remember. There was another family there with three older teenage boys. The were doing cannonballs and having fun. I watched them and my wife and daughter. Their parents left to go make dinner. My wife and daughter got out for a minute and we went to the shallow end of the pool. I told my wife they could stay and swim and I would run to the grocery a few blocks away to get the remainder of the items for dinner. They went back into the pool and I sat down to put on my shoes and shirt to go. I heard my daughter call out. Looking up, I saw her in the middle of the deep end and could see my wife under water, moving her along. It seemed strange and I noticed the three boys standing near the edge of the pool in the deep end on the same side as me. I remember thinking, “What is she [my wife] doing? Giving her a ride like a submarine?” Then my wife popped up with a strange look on her face. She was trying to do a dead man’s pull to pull my daughter on her back to the edge of the deep end nearest the boys. She went under, but my daughter was still above water. Something was not right.

I jumped up and went quickly to where the boys were standing. What was my wife doing? Then my daughter went under, and I knew they were going to drown. I whipped off my glasses and my shirt. I am not a great swimmer, overweight and out of shape, and no life guard, but time was short. There was only one thing I could do. I jumped in.

I went under but popped up they were both under water in a flurry of bubbles. I did not know if I could reach them, and could not really see them. I reached out and grabbed, and got them both. I pulled with all my might and they popped up as I went under, holding them up. I kicked back to the surface, still holding them. I had my wife by the waist, her back to me, and my daughter’s arm in my hand. She was looking at me with wonder in her eyes. I only had a moment and I turned my head to the boys, shouting, “Help us!” As I went under, holding them up. I heard a splash of the two older boys hitting the water.

I kicked my way to the surface, holding on to them to keep them up, and kicking with everything in me. I could feel the boys pushing us to the shallow end, which was not far away. Still kicking, I knew we were within feet of safety. I saw the four foot marker just ahead, and shoved my daughter to safety. I kept kicking and knew that if we could not touch soon, I could not hold my wife and I up. With one last desperate kick and the push of the boys, I put a foot down to see if I could touch. Just barely I was able to touch bottom and leaned that way, pulling my wife with the boys pushing. I could stand and she could stand, and I walked her to the edge of the pool in the three foot area.

It turns out my wife, three years earlier when my daughter was seven, was accustomed to giving her rides on her back. However, now that she was ten, she was 100+ pounds, almost 40 pounds more than three years ago. My wife had not counted on that extra weight, and it was more than she could do to give her a ride. In the hours that followed and again today I have had many thoughts. What if I had not had them help set up? What if I had not noticed what was going on, or had been quicker getting dressed, and left the pool area? I would have returned from the store to an ambulance scene, and my wife and daughter would be dead. I still do not know how I got them up, or even reached them. I am uncertain the outcome if the boys had left with their parents. What if the two older boys had been like the third boy, and not jumped in but only watched from the safety of the edge of the pool? These things I do not know. One thing I do know.

By the grace of God, I am a jumper. You can be too. Praise God!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt you as the Most High. You alone are worthy of our praise. Only You can teach us. Only You alone can spare lives. Today I give You praise for sparing the lives of my wife, my daughter, and me. Help us all learn to be jumpers, trusting in You alone. Please forgive us when we fail. Forgive us when we watch from the sidelines. Please send us today Your healing, Your deliverance, and Your abundant provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.