There's A Shark In My Boat

“The shark jumped right into his boat. Terry Selwood was fishing off the coast of Australia, just like he had hundreds of times before. Something almost knocked him down and when he turned to see what it was that hit the boat, he realized that a seven-foot, 440-pound Great White shark had jumped into his boat. I wonder who was more surprised – the shark or Mr. Selwood. After radioing for help, he hung on the side of the boat until he was rescued.  He evidently did not think it wise to share his boat with a shark. And seeing this story got me to thinking about life, Jesus, and ministry. You never know when life will take an unexpected turn for the worse. It could be a natural disaster that destroys property, an unforeseen layoff at work, or bad news from the Doctor.  It can be something evil done to someone you know and care about.  Or to you.  It might be consequences from a bad choice or decision.  It is a hard world and bad things happen” (Steve Ridgell, “Sharks, Life, and Jesus,” http://char.is/).

Perhaps there is a shark in your boat right now.  It could be any of the things mentioned above or some other equally devastating problem.  Regardless, there it is -- lying in the bottom of your boat, snapping its powerful jaws, seeking to take a bite out of you.  You didn’t invite it in, yet, there it is, threatening to overwhelm you.  What are you going to do???

I like the lines from the story above.  “After radioing for help, he hung on the side of the boat until he was rescued.  He evidently did not think it wise to share his boat with a shark.”  None of us can handle the sharks of life one on one.  The wisest course of action is to get out of harm’s way, send out a distress call to God, and hang on.  It may not sound heroic, but it has an amazing success rate.

God loves you!

Mike

Cooperation

Roberta Ursrey and her family were looking forward to a fun day at the beach on the Florida coast recently.  Little did they know that the day would nearly end in tragedy. Roberta’s sons had ventured too far from the shore and their screams signaled that they were in trouble.  Ursrey and other family members waded out to try and help them but also got caught in the rip current.  Now nine people were stuck in about 15 feet of water.  But thanks to some other quick-thinking individuals, another rescue plan was initiated.  Dozens of onlookers formed a human chain, stretching out hand-to-hand for the length of a football field, to get close to the distressed family.  When the water got too deep for the human chain, a few strong swimmers covered the remaining distance to tow those in danger back to the people in the chain, who then passed them back to safety.    Later, Roberta Ursrey was quoted as saying, “I am so grateful...These people were God’s angels that were in the right place at the right time. I owe my life and my family’s life to them. Without them, we wouldn’t be here” (http://www.newsherald.com/news/20170710/human-chain-saves-family- from-drowning).

          In a time when the news cycle is dominated by so much negativity, it’s refreshing to encounter a story like this.  Beyond the obvious blessing of the rescue of this family, I see a couple of lessons to be learned.  First, there were people on the beach that day who were willing to get involved rather than stand back and wait for someone else to do something. Second, it took cooperation to make it work.  No one person or handful of people were going to be successful.  Everyone had to join hands and work together to get the job done.

          Hopefully, the application to work in the kingdom of God is readily apparent.  When each one of us makes it a priority to get involved and when all of us join hands to work together, great things can happen.

God loves you!

Mike