Under The Sea

In a matter of a couple of minutes, I realized 3 serious things while diving one day. One, I was 85 feet below the surface and out of air in my tank. Two, a subtle undercurrent had pulled me out to a place I’d never intended to go, and three,  I was all alone.

I had been scuba diving and spearfishing off a deep wall in St Croix (my home for 7 years) one afternoon. I was hunting a large red snapper, which seemed to lull me further and further from the steep underwater wall I thought I knew so well.  (Well enough to dive alone.) Although I barely had to kick my fins to keep up with this fish, I never realized, until too late (45 minutes later), that it was the almost indiscernible current that pulled me way off course. (Spoiler alert: I got the fish, learned a lesson, and God got my attention.)

I thought about that story the other day as my small group at church discussed the busyness of our lives and the current that can sometimes pull us far from home. Distractions, constant activity, deadlines, commitments, and the litany of things on our “to do” lists can almost sweep us away with the cares and complexities of life if we’re not careful. So, what do we do before getting to the place of no air left in the tank, gauge at zero, off course, and all alone?

Jesus got away regularly to pray and to connect with the Father. Shouldn’t we do the same? Psalm 46:10 (that we’ve often heard quoted) says, “Be still and know that I am God.” In the Message it reads, “Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.” One could even say, “Get out of that current. It’s pulling you to danger.”

On this side of heaven, no doubt, we’ll still have times when we’ll find ourselves chasing after what amounts to a great fish in a mediocre story, but we were created for so much more. We are called to know God, and to make Him known. Do the current and the traffic have you today? Well not anymore. “Come close to God, and He’ll come close to you.” James 4:8