Deep Water
Have
you ever noticed a lifeguard at a swimming pool? Their main tool for rescue is
a float or a long rod with a loop on the end they can extent to the person in
danger. As a trained lifeguard myself (35 years ago), the main thing that was
drilled into our brains was NOT to jump in deep water to save a drowning
person. That absolutely must be the last resort. Why do you think the training
is taught in that manner? The objective is to save the person, but if you jump
in the possibilities get very high that you could lose two people.
Let's relate that to life for a moment. It is easy to become a victim of someone else's problem and oftentimes to the point to where all is lost. I am not speaking of losing a life to death; I am talking about losing your will for life while alive. It is a problem that has a spiral effect and gains momentum and victims as it goes. The deeper you get in, the further the pain and loss of life reaches. I have seen families destroyed from the inside out over trying to jump headfirst to save someone when the right solution was to throw a life preserver from the sidelines. No need to go too deep into this; I know most of you can relate to what I am talking about.
I do want to touch on something else while we are talking about lifesaving techniques. When a person loses their faith, kinda like losing your balance and stumbles, what do you do? You yourself have been a victim of life's hard knocks and there have been times that you’ve questioned if God even exists and if he does, he must be blind to the fact that you exist. Now let me turn this upside down. Let's say that you have not experienced this, but others around you have. How can you relate to their drowning in life's abyss without being a victim yourself? This is where I think it gets tough. There are people that honestly lose their way in life and so often the ones that are not lost offer zero help to the ones that are.
Did that last statement make any sense at all? We talk about the work of Christ to those weak in their faith without teaching what Christ stood for. There is a great quote by a 4th century Christian that goes like this, "do everything in your power to lead people to Christ and when all else fails use words". That sums up most of what I am trying to say. Shouting words about Christ does nothing; walking the faith with love does. Telling people how much you love Jesus does nothing if your actions say something contrary to that. In my humble nonprofessional opinion, I think the best way to save the ones weak in faith is to be a friend and help them get their life back on track. This does not take jumping into the deep end of the pool. Most of the time it simply means not walking away when times get tough.
Be a lifeguard and throw someone a rope. If you are in need of a rope yourself, be sure to catch the one God sends. Who knows, simply reading this may be the rope God is throwing you. I believe in peace and love. I also believe that together they will promote the healing needed to save many people from the deep water of life.
peace to you
Dale
Let's relate that to life for a moment. It is easy to become a victim of someone else's problem and oftentimes to the point to where all is lost. I am not speaking of losing a life to death; I am talking about losing your will for life while alive. It is a problem that has a spiral effect and gains momentum and victims as it goes. The deeper you get in, the further the pain and loss of life reaches. I have seen families destroyed from the inside out over trying to jump headfirst to save someone when the right solution was to throw a life preserver from the sidelines. No need to go too deep into this; I know most of you can relate to what I am talking about.
I do want to touch on something else while we are talking about lifesaving techniques. When a person loses their faith, kinda like losing your balance and stumbles, what do you do? You yourself have been a victim of life's hard knocks and there have been times that you’ve questioned if God even exists and if he does, he must be blind to the fact that you exist. Now let me turn this upside down. Let's say that you have not experienced this, but others around you have. How can you relate to their drowning in life's abyss without being a victim yourself? This is where I think it gets tough. There are people that honestly lose their way in life and so often the ones that are not lost offer zero help to the ones that are.
Did that last statement make any sense at all? We talk about the work of Christ to those weak in their faith without teaching what Christ stood for. There is a great quote by a 4th century Christian that goes like this, "do everything in your power to lead people to Christ and when all else fails use words". That sums up most of what I am trying to say. Shouting words about Christ does nothing; walking the faith with love does. Telling people how much you love Jesus does nothing if your actions say something contrary to that. In my humble nonprofessional opinion, I think the best way to save the ones weak in faith is to be a friend and help them get their life back on track. This does not take jumping into the deep end of the pool. Most of the time it simply means not walking away when times get tough.
Be a lifeguard and throw someone a rope. If you are in need of a rope yourself, be sure to catch the one God sends. Who knows, simply reading this may be the rope God is throwing you. I believe in peace and love. I also believe that together they will promote the healing needed to save many people from the deep water of life.
peace to you
Dale
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