Call on God when you feel submerged
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Faith Fitness
Bro. Sam Kaufman
At times, it feels as if our heads are floating just above water.
Maybe we’re able to tilt our heads, position our mouths above the water and receive a needed breath of air.
It could be literal, or just the way life comes at us. Sometimes, we feel like we’re flooded with what appears to be insurmountable circumstances.
To my friend’s wife, it was a literal occurrence. She was just 13 at the time and eventually found herself submerged during a tsunami.
She and her parents were visiting Thailand in December 2004 and had gone to the beach on December 26. A major earthquake – 9.1 – occurred in the Indian Ocean, creating a 100-foot wave that eventually hit their location.
When they knew the situation, and viewed the wave from afar on the beach, they and the others began to run for their lives.
“In the last image, I looked over my shoulder again, and there is no one there; just a wall of water tearing down a small utility shed almost as if it was a house of cards – the wave as high as the roof. There is no dad, but still his voice echoes in my mind, ‘Go, go, go!’ And I runs as fast as I possibly can.”
Later in her book, she writes, “(In) just a few seconds, the water surrounded us entirely and started to pull us apart. Everyone was holding on to the next person, trying to fight the current. It was pulling us by our feet. Since I was at the edge, I was the first one to go. My feet were instantly swept off the ground; the current was pulling me by my feet and my hands were slipping.
“The woman next to me stretched out her leg as a last attempt for me to hold on to her, but I was unable to reach it. The water was too strong and fast. I was gone.
“Once underwater, my instinct was to swim up; simple, logical, obvious. However, I quickly realized it wasn’t going to be that simple. There was just so much stuff, mostly wood planks and tree branches from what I could identify. I thought to myself that if kept going with the flow, I was just one more ‘thing’ traveling along the current and at the same velocity. ‘Physics,’ as my father would say. I understood this, but how would I get to the surface without disturbing the balance? Without hitting myself and hurting myself? Without risking getting something stuck in my legs, torso, arms, or head?
“Some of these were large objects that could easily hurt me. I was blind underwater; I couldn’t see myself out of this situation, I had to feel my way out of it. I decided that there was only one thing to do, pray (to God) and risk it. There was so much around me; the only free space I had for myself was already occupied with my own body just simply by being there. How can I swim in these conditions without getting hurt?”
A thought occurred to her to use the obstacles as a ladder. But how? “To answer this question, my mind played back a memory. I have my dad to thank for his guidance. From the time I was very young, he felt his mission was to teach me the laws of physics as if one day it could save my life – and it did.
“Physics! The wreckage all around me was moving at the same speed as I, hence they should appear static to me. I could manipulate these obstacles and use them as a ladder after all.
“I began lifting my arms up, feeling whatever was above my head, pushing it aside to create room for my head, and then grabbing and pulling it down to my waist level. I thought its buoyancy properties might give me an extra boost as I pulled the objects down, they would then fight to go back up, bringing me with them. As I kept moving upwards, my legs would follow in the spot where my upper body had just been. This allowed me to start kicking my feet relatively safely.
“I repeated this ‘swimming technique’ over and over again until I finally reached the surface. I managed to take one single breath of air before I was pulled back underwater. I was not in a panic. Now I knew what to do. I continued to swim in my own special way, and I reached the surface again. Another breath later, I was pulled underwater again.”
There is so much more to her amazing story, but God miraculously spared her through it all. We can call on God when we feel like we’re submerged, as she was.
“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” – Isaiah 43:2.
