When I was very young, I remember swimming at a lake during a Gregory family reunion. I know, the thought of such a reunion is more than some of you can stomach. At the lake, there was a dock. I would walk a little ways out on the dock, jump in the water, and then walk back to shore. Each time I was inching further and further out on the dock. Finally, it happened. I jumped into water that was over my head. I began floundering. I couldn’t breath. It was then that the lifeguard jumped in and pulled me to safety. Up until then, I depended on my own abilities. Finally I reached the point where I needed someone else. My friend, it is mighty easy for us to begin to feel self-sufficient. It is mighty easy for us to believe we need nothing and no one, until disaster comes our way. It is then, when we can no longer handle things ourselves, that we often find ourselves forced to turn to the God we’ve ignored. It is often then, that we begin to pray with words we really mean. Sometimes, God allows bad things to happen to good people, to remind them to trust Him. He often allowed that to happen to the Israelites.
It is easy to talk about how great God is. It is easy to talk about how we trust Him, but it is often only when we have nowhere else to turn, that we begin to mean what we say.