One summer, our Dad was hired to fix up a nice home on a small island. The whole family was invited to stay in the house for a few weeks while he was working on it. This was a real treat for us kids! We enjoyed swimming and boating in the saltwater of the protected bay.
One afternoon, after working hard in the heat, Dad said, “I’m going to swim across the channel and back again.” The channel wasn’t all that wide and Dad was a strong swimmer, so we were not worried about him. We watched him dive in and start swimming toward the mainland.
It wasn’t until he returned, much later than we expected, that we heard his story. When he had gotten about halfway across, his feet got caught in a large bed of seaweed and he wasn’t able to untangle them. The tide was moving out and Dad got very tired trying to kick free and reach the shore.
As he felt himself getting weaker out there in the seaweed, a verse from the Bible suddenly came to his mind: “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them” (Psalm 34:77The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. (Psalm 34:7)). “Only the Lord can help me,” he thought.
Right after that, Dad's legs came untangled from the knotted mass of seaweed and he was able to swim the rest of the way across the channel! He was exhausted, and he knew he’d better not try to swim back, so he walked quite a way down the beach to the bridge to cross back over to the island. That explained why it took him so long to return home.
Dad sat down and told the family his story, making sure to give God thanks for helping him out of his trouble. He said that when he arrived at the far shore and looked back, there was a little boat passing through the same spot where he had been tangled up. He was confident they would have rescued him if he had still been there, but it made him happy to think of how the Lord had delivered him as soon as he cried out to Him in his heart.
Dad reminded his family that when we memorize verses, they are hidden in our hearts, and the Holy Spirit brings them to our mind when we need them most. He is a strong Helper that you can cry out to in any problem. “In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee: for Thou wilt answer me” (Psalm 86:77In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. (Psalm 86:7)).
Messages of God’s Love 12/6/2020