Weak and exhausted

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD (Psalm 27:14).

It was a frightening sight. Out in the river, a boy was splashing wildly, fighting to catch a breath of air. On the shore, two figures watched. One was the boy’s mother; unable to swim, all she could do was cry in fear as her son came closer and closer to drowning. Next to her stood a strong man, a stranger who had stopped to watch the unfolding drama. Repeatedly, the hysterical mother pleaded with the man to swim out and rescue her son, but all he did was stand at the edge of the water, calmly watching as the boy’s struggles gradually weakened.
Finally, the wild thrashing in the water slowed and came to a stop. The boy had exhausted himself; his body bobbed to the surface, weak and helpless. At just that moment, the man leaped leaped into the stream; swimming swiftly, he grabbed the youth and brought him safely to shore. After making sure her son was going to be okay, the now grateful woman asked, "Why didn’t you save my boy sooner?" The man replied, "Ma’am, I couldn’t save your boy as long as he struggled; he would have dragged us both to certain death. But when he grew weak and stopped struggling, it was a simple matter to save him."

There are many times in life when we get in over our heads. We ruin a wonderful relationship, we make a complete mess of our finances, we make a disastrous series of decisions that leave us boxed in with no apparent way out. Like a drowning child, our first inclination is to panic. We thrash around, looking desperately for anything we can grab onto that offers firm support and the hope of escape. But in our flailing, all we do is hurt those within our reach; we grab onto them too tightly, we demand too much from them. In our panic, we only bring pain to those who would like to help.

Many times, God does not jump right in to grab us and haul us out of trouble because we are too preoccupied trying to save ourselves. It doesn’t even occur to us to pray, let alone quietly wait for the Lord, trusting in His rescue. And so there are times that God lets us exhaust ourselves until we grow weak and helpless; then, when we can no longer impede His rescue plans by our foolish flailing about, He comes and lifts us in His loving arms and carries us to safety. All we need do is let go, and trust God to do the rest.