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!

The Brave Tamandua

     I stayed at the Chan Chich Lodge in Belize, several years ago. I liked the lodge because it had numerous marked jungle trails that I could hike on at my leisure, without a guide. One afternoon I was quietly walking alone on the Loggers Trail when I spotted a movement in the trees. As I got closer I saw that it was a small Tamandua, a member of the anteater family. It was busy scurrying around, hunting for ants and termites under the bark of a dead tree.

The Tamandua have prehensile tails, like monkeys, which allows them to use their tail for holding on. Lucky for me they have poor eyesight and I was able to observe it for quite some time without being spotted. After taking numerous photographs I finally decided to see what it would do if it saw me. I expected it to quickly retreat into the jungle maze. I made a big movement which it quickly noticed. Although it was only about the size of a medium size house cat, the Tamandua immediately took up a defensive posture and started hissing at me.

 It grasped the tree with its tail and hind feet and began waving its forearms and long claws at me, as if ready to fight! I snapped a few more photographs and then slowly backed away, letting it feel that it had scared me off. I admired its bravery, standing up to something much larger than itself. I don’t think that I would have been as brave as the Tamandua if I was suddenly faced with something much larger than me, such as an elephant.

     The brave actions of the little Tamandua in the jungle started me thinking about our human reaction to facing the “giants” of our lives. I do think it is our human nature to be afraid, when faced with something that could do us harm, but God tells us many times, not to be afraid. Just because we are Christians, does not mean that we will not face any evil or threatening situations in our lives; but, God has promised that he will be with us, and will never forsake us. In Deuteronomy 20, God instructs his people: “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee”. Fear does not come from God, as II Timothy, chapter one, points out: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”. The phrase “fear not” appears over 60 time in the Bible! So, the next time you face one of the “giants” in your life, just remember that “God is with you” and be brave as the little Tamandua in the tree!