Heroes Who Can't Swim

HEROES WHO CAN'T SWIM

Paul Harvey tells the story of Ray Blankenship preparing his breakfast and gazing out the window, when he saw a small girl being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his Andover, Ohio, home. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch disappeared with a roar underneath a road and then emptied into the main culvert.

Ray dashed out the door and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the floundering child. Then he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. Blankenship surfaced and was able to grab the child's arm. They tumbled end over end. Within about three feet of the yawning culvert, Ray's free hand felt something protruding from one bank. He clung desperately, but the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away. "If I can just hang on until help comes," he thought.

He did better than that. By the time fire-department rescuers arrived, Blankenship had pulled the girl to safety. Both were treated for shock. On April 12, 1989, Ray Blankenship was awarded the Coast Guard's Silver Lifesaving Medal. The award is fitting, for this selfless person was at even greater risk to himself than most people knew. Ray Blankenship can't swim.

In many respects, we are like Ray Blackenship. We are jumping out in the deep waters without the knowledge of how to swim. For some, that's reason enough to go back to the shore. But we need to understand that is exactly where God wants us to be: in the middle of the deep water, amidst the swift currents of our culture, doing a new thing for the kingdom of God, something we may never have done before. Let us step forward in faith and recognize that God never calls his servant to a work he will not accomplish or resources for Paul said, Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me."

From Tim Smith's Sermon "Understanding Vision"