Rising Water

There are times when life, like a river, is over your head and you feel like you are drowning. Yet, the water from these very rivers wash away your filth. What the water does not remove, the fire purifies.  Francis Frangipane

Can you imagine what it must have felt like to be the people outside Noah’s Ark when God flooded the earth? That would be scary wouldn’t it? 

When we were kids we lived near the gulf and we would often go down to the Gulf of Mexico to fish.  There was a boat channel that was built for the ships that were bringing in shipments from all over the world.  We would see ships that were as long as a football field and filled with new cars. 

The ship channel was really deep.  This was so the ships could come into port.  There were jetties built alongside the channel.  The jetties were rocks the size of a Smart Car stacked haphazardly in piles that extended away from the shore for what seemed like miles.  The jetties kept the sand on the shallow side from washing out when big ships came into the channel. 

On one side of the jetties the water was shallow but it was deep on the other side.  We would walk along the shallow side in waste deep water and then climb the jetties and fish into the channel. 

For those of you who are not fisherman, we could catch some of the strangest fish.  If you have ever caught a flounder, you know what I am talking about.  This fish is flat and has both eyes on the same side of his head.  It looks kind of like a dinner plate with two eyes on top.  I read where a flounder is born with eyes on both sides of its head but as it grows into an adult its eyes migrate to the same side.  So imagine a dinner plate with eyes on the ocean floor with both eyes topside.  This is one weird fish. 

One summer we went fishing on the jetties and my brother and I were standing next to each other fishing into the channel.  Far out in the channel we saw a ship coming in.  It was so cool watching this huge ship slowly cruise by.  It was also really cool when the ship passed by and the water level dropped about four feet.  What wasn’t so cool was that the water that was sucked out by the passing of the ship had to come back in.  So we are standing on these huge rocks when all of a sudden we see the water start heading toward us.  I’m sure it would have been comical to see our faces at the point where we realized the water was getting ready to overtake us and crash over the rocks.  We survived it although we did get soaked.  My biggest fear was getting washed off the rocks into the deep channel. 

Thinking about it now that must have been what the people on earth felt like when it rained for 40 days and the water started rising.  Can you imagine it raining and not stopping and as the water rises you move to higher ground and it just keeps coming?  Can you also imagine what the people felt like who had made fun of Noah for building a boat where there was no water?  We worship an all-powerful God and He wants our obedience. Many died because they didn’t believe what He said.          

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, Your majesty and power are shown throughout the Bible yet there are still many who don’t believe that there is another disaster coming.  I have experienced the fear of rising water and the next time it won’t be water.  I praise You for allowing me to be saved.     

Scripture:   “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.  It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!  Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

Jesus Teaches the Fear of God

“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.  And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.  Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.  Matthew 10:24-31