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Caught in the Undercurrent, Delivered By a
Hand
November 19, 2007
By Timothy J. Morey
The captain of my four-man raft pointed to the large rock jutting
out of the surface of the water, with a huge smile that covered his face. It
took about 15 seconds of paddling to maneuver the small raft through the rapid
currents to the left and into the path of this thrill-seeking ramp that nature
had provided us. The massive force of the raging waters slapped our raft and its
four adventurers across the top of the massive rock and launched us high into
the air over a two-story waterfall. As a young teen I remember thinking to
myself, “This is going to be the day that I die.”
As our rubber raft launched into the air, the boat overturned and every
passenger flew every which way into the deep water pool waiting below. Being
sucked down into the swirling waters, I couldn’t feel the sandy bottom with my
feet and my senses were instantly disoriented. Franticly struggling for the
surface that would give my lungs much-needed oxygen, my life vest pulled me to
what I thought was the surface of the waters.
My lungs no longer burned as I gulped in as much air as I could, but everything
was pitch black and cold. Pitch black during the middle of a warm, sunny day.
The sunlight no longer pierced through the lazy clouds to warm my skin. It was
dark and I was scared—scared of the waters surrounding me; scared of the cold
darkness; scared I had drowned.
Thankfully I didn’t die that day, but I seemingly lived out a death that has
claimed the lives of many before me and that will take the lives of many after
me—the death of the raging, churning waters; the death of the undercurrent.
Unbiased Drownings
According to an article I read recently, death by drowning is the fourth largest
annual reason for accidental deaths, with an average of about 4,000 people dying
per year. Some may drown in swimming pools, others in boating accidents, while
others perish due to the silent danger of undercurrents. The cold waters are
unbiased as they take the lives of young and old alike.
Sin is an undercurrent that takes the lives of more people than all the
accidents, wars or crisis of life put together. Sin is a cold, dark killer. It
is silent. It is fatal.
People look at the surface waters of sin and see that it is calm, relaxing, even
compelling. As they step into the shallow waters, rarely are they jerked below
the surface by an undercurrent they cannot control. The flow of sin may actually
feel relaxing as it flows past your body.
This is where the true danger begins—a lack of respect for the dangers of the
waters. A confidence in one’s ability to conquer and maneuver the flow of the
waters. People grow overconfident. People grow careless. People grow unaware and
oblivious to the dangers of their surroundings. People grow weary. People are
slowly drawn into the grasp of sin’s undercurrent. People are in danger.
Drowning Before Your Eyes
Drunks never start out thinking they could end up as a drunk or else they would
have never picked up their first beer. It seemed fun and exciting. The problem
is that the drunk never saw the dangers of the undercurrent: the addiction to
alcohol, the physical side effects or the ruined marriage and broken home. The
undercurrent of sin is silent and deadly—claiming one life at a time.
Just as the raging waters and undercurrent created my panicked state so many
years ago, billions of people find themselves in the same situation gasping for
air, crying out loudly for any help, realizing they can no longer control the
direction of their lives as the undercurrent of sin that was once so weak has
since grown strong and violently pulled them away.
You see them every day. They dress in suit and tie and work good jobs. They take
their children to soccer practices. During the weekends they cheer their
favorite teams. They are your mother or your father. They are your brother or
your sister. Family. Friends. Neighbors. Co-workers. They are young, they are
old.
Perhaps even you.
With a smile on their face and a chipper voice, they look into your eyes while
their souls scream out for help, “Please help me! I’m drowning! I’m caught in
the undercurrent! I’m scared! Please help me!”
The Ultimate Life Preserver
Blood began to form in pools on the ground as the crowd cried out
loudly.
Yet another trial had just concluded and Roman soldiers milled
around waiting for the criminals to finally die: another day, another trial,
another round of criminals. It seemed like a normal day to them, yet it was a
day never to be forgotten. This man, Jesus, whom was called by some the King of
the Jews, hung suspended between heaven and earth.
He hung on the cross and He died. He was born to die. He lived to face death. In
three days, He conquered death, mocking it openly. He rose again. One drop of
His blood overcomes sin and death. We can live because He lives.
When His side was pierced, water mixed with blood and flowed out. As He took
upon himself the sins of the world He experienced the undercurrent of sin, yet
overcame it.
Due to the dangers of drowning, life preservers even today are carefully placed
near the edges of many swimming pools or somewhere easily accessible on every
boat or vessel. At a moment’s notice, one can be thrown within reach of a
drowning person and any person that grasps it can remain afloat and eventually
be pulled to safety.
Jesus is our only life preserver.
If we lay hold of Him, we can be pulled out of the undercurrent of sin and to a
place of safety. Out of the undercurrent. Out of sin.
That’s why when we declare the Gospel and testimonies of God’s saving power to
anyone we know; we are essentially throwing out a life preserver to people that
are perishing in the raging waters of life. People are caught in the
undercurrent. They need a life preserver.
They need Jesus.
ninetyandnine.com
© 2007, Timothy J. Morey
---------
Timothy J. Morey has a passion for teaching God’s Word and
mentoring young Christians. For his day-job, he is a consulting analyst that
works for a global top-75 electronics company. Tim is a long-time fan of the New
York Yankees; it’s too bad they’ve stopped winning World Series the last several
years.
Referenced verses: Matthew 14:25-32, John 19:34, I Corinthians
15:56, II Corinthians 5:21, Colossians 2:15, James 1:15
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