. . . Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 7:24b-25
I had a bitter-sweet relationship with swimming as a child. While on one hand I loved getting into the pool, floating on tubes and challenging myself a little closer to the deep end, on the other hand I was deathly fearful of water. There could be any number of reasons why I disliked it so much, but one thing was true — the thought of drowning petrified me.
This fear was perhaps generated by the story of me nearly drowning when I was three. I think I remember, but then again I’ve heard the story so many times my imagination could very well have drawn the picture for me. Story goes that one day while playing at the beach, my oldest brother was playing with his friends a good distance from shore. No one I’d rather play with than my brothers at age three. My mom set up camp a few yards from the water and got me situated at waters’ edge with my toys. Mom turned her head for just a second — the very second I decided to go play with my brother. The water didn’t have to be too deep to be too deep for me. With that said, mom looked up to find me bobbing like a cork, feet in mid-air. As any mom would do, she ran with all of her might to snatch me from the water. She rescued me! I naturally held my breath while bobbing, but had mom not been nearby it would have been over.
From that point forward, either a curse or a life saver, I had to wear those arm floaties. I hated those things!
Life seems to dish out some unexpectedly deep waters to step into at times. My life has had it’s fair share, with current rip currents and breakers that are strong enough to lose your footing. As I reflect, I’m reminded of the many things I’ve used to rescue me. When I’ve appeared to be drowning I’ve stepped up onto people, places and things that were temporarily strong enough to get my nose out of the water. But even so, they crumbled under the sand and left me searching again. The more I do, the more I try to rescue me, the more my feet dance in the sky.
Like Paul, I’ve found myself so often asking, “What will rescue me from this I do not want to do?” But then, I realize, Paul never said “what will rescue me?” Paul said “Who.”
God rescues! Strong enough to rescue me from that Hawaiian sized wave of life that crashes down with such a force I wonder if I’ll ever surface again. So, bobbing with my feet in the air . . . I wait . . . I hold my breath . . . I trust . . . I live . . . I do . . . through . . . who? Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ my Lord!
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:36