Joe and Rudy loved to go fishing. There was nothing they liked better than to row out in the bay and spend a day catching fish. This particular day was no different than any other, and the two friends packed some food into their boat and along with their gear rowed out to the reef, which was a good distance from shore. All day the two men caught fish after fish and threw them into their boat.
It was late in the afternoon and time to quit. The men packed away their gear and started the long row back to the harbor. Now, because of all the fish, their boat was much lower down in the water than it was when they had left that morning.
After they had been rowing for a while, they noticed something slicing through the water, coming toward them from the ocean. Oh, no! It was a shark’s dorsal fin, and it was heading straight for their rowboat! Then they saw another...and another...and another! Each one was circling, round and round their little boat and gradually closing in on the two frightened men. They couldn’t row any faster, and they didn’t know what else to do.
“Let’s throw them some of the fish,” Joe said. “Maybe that’ll satisfy their hunger.” And so they began throwing their day’s work out to feed the hungry sharks that surrounded their boat.
Like Joe and Rudy, how many times have you and I used our own ideas to fight off the attacks of our worst enemy, Satan? But we are no match for him in our own strength. The Bible says in James 4:77Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7), “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” We can only do that through the power of the Lord Jesus.
Soon the day’s catch of fish was gone, but the sharks were still very close to the boat. Joe and Rudy were terrified. Suddenly a shark shot out of the water and tore an oar from the oarlock! Now the two men were unable to row, and they knew they were helpless to get away.
One of the men waved frantically toward shore, hoping to attract attention. But all they got was a friendly wave back.
Now the sharks were closing in for the kill. One of the creatures arched out of the water, and as it dropped back into the water its jaw caught on the side of the boat, ripping a piece out of the wooden hull. Unfortunately for the shark, its jaw was cut on the edge of the torn boat and began to bleed. Suddenly there was a mass of roiling water as the rest of the sharks, sensing blood in the water, attacked the injured shark. In moments, the shark was totally eaten!
As the two men realized they were at the mercy of these deadly creatures, they fell on their knees in their boat and cried to God to save them. In their desperate need, they promised God that if He saved them out of this, they would serve Him for the rest of their lives.
There are phrases in Psalm 107 that describe the exact situation of our two friends. “Their soul is melted because of the trouble . . . and are at their wit’s end. They cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He [brings] them out of their distresses” (vss. 26-28). The Lord sometimes chooses to put us into really difficult situations in order to make us turn to Him.
And so God, who holds our very breath in His hands, was watching over Joe and Rudy. Looking up, the two terrified friends again saw more fins heading their way, but these were not shark fins. Their path through the water was different. Here was nothing but the hand of the Lord reaching out to save two repentant sinners. Dolphins, one of the few creatures that sharks fear, were heading toward this troubled spot in the bay. It seemed as if the sharks quickly decided that being right there at that moment was not a good idea, and they left the boat and headed for the open sea. Not one shark stayed behind!
With thankful hearts, Rudy and Joe limped their way to the harbor with their damaged boat and one oar. They both kept their promises to God and now serve Him instead of spending their time on things that don’t really matter.
ML-10/22/2017