Responding to a Crisis

    A couple of years ago, my son and I decided to expand our horizons to the underwater world and we signed up for scuba diving lessons. We took the classes and did our initial dives in near by Lake Travis. I was a bit apprehensive, depending on all this new “gear” for survival, but I made it through the class. For our first real dive, we scheduled a trip to Belize, to visit the world’s second largest barrier reef. Our first dive had an exciting start; with ten foot swells at our launch site. It was a bit difficult, putting on our diving gear, but it was peaceful, once we entered the water. We went down 70-80 feet to an area with beautiful coral formations and large groups of fish.  The underwater videos that people take are great, but they are nothing compared to actually experiencing the underwater in person! My son’s weight belt came loose, but fortunately he was able to quickly retrieve it before it sunk to the bottom.  I think my nervousness combined with my heavy breathing resulted in me being the first to run low on air. I signaled to the dive master that I was down to the 600 pounds of air limit and he instructed me to go back to the surface. I slowly made my way back to the surface, to insure that I didn’t get the “bends”. Once at the surface I was again met by the ten foot swells. Our dive boat was nowhere to be seen!  I could only get a view across the water, once every 8-10 seconds, when I was at the top of a swell. I finally was able to locate our boat which had drifted some distance away. I started a futile effort to swim to the boat. Thankfully the boat spotted me and motored over and picked me up. The others started coming up after a few more minutes, although the rocking boat combined with our exhaustion from the dive resulted in most of us getting sea sick.

     Our dive the next day was to a much calmer area with very small swells, although we were warned that the currents were very strong. The area was beautiful with new fish and coral formations that were totally different from our first dive. We started the dive, swimming with the current and then later turned around and started swimming back, against the strong current. Towards the end the current seemed to get stronger, although it was probably me just getting tired. At times it seemed that I was not making any progress against the strong current!  Once again I was the first to start running out of air. I signaled my dive master that I was down to the 600 pounds of air limit and he motioned me to just continue with the group. After getting down to 400 pounds I was starting to get a bit nervous and again signaled the dive master. He again motioned me to continue with the group.  I was starting to wonder if he was just going to let me run out of air! With the combination of my exhaustion and my fear, I was quickly down to 200 pounds of air! I was really starting to worry now! I again signaled the dive master and was greatly relieved when he motioned to me to take his spare regulator and breathe from his tank, ending my crisis. After getting back on the dive boat I was relating the difficulty of swimming against the current and my son started laughing. When I asked him why he was laughing, he told me that he had gotten tired of swimming against the current and held on to my air tank and let me pull him along! Then I understood why I was having such a difficult time swimming against the current! We later took a night dive and were again met by a totally different collection of fish, including lobsters and squid. The under water beauty of the ocean far outweighed my apprehension and fears. I hope to return their some day.

     God’s timing is rarely aligned with our personal sense of timing. God speaks to us and tells us that he will take care of a crisis situation, but often we get tired of waiting on him, or we think that he is not going to answer our prayers, and we decide to take things into our own hands.

      I Samuel 13 tells the story of Saul getting ready to go to war with the Philistines. The prophet Samuel had told Saul that he would come in seven day to make a sacrifice before they went to war. Saul started doubting that Samuel would show up and finally caved in to the demands of his solders.  He decided to make the sacrifice himself (even though he was forbidden to make a sacrifice). Just as Saul finished the sacrifice, Samuel arrived and reprimanded Saul for taking matters into his own hands and told him that the kingdom would be taken from him, because of his disobedience.  

     Genesis 17 tells the story of Abraham and Sarah, who God promised a son in their old age. They believed in God but decided that God needed a little help and Abraham had a son by Sarah’s handmaid. Only when the hundred year old Sarah had their son Isaac did they realize their mistake. The children of Israel suffered many hardships at the hands of Ishmael’s descendants. Just as Saul and Abraham suffered great loss, after taking things into their own hands, I would have probable suffered also, had I not waited on my dive master or followed his instructions. Remember, when you are faced with a crisis situation, just stay on the course that you know is right, wait on God, and He will help you through the difficult situation!