Feel the pull

A friend of mine and I went diving the other day; (actually he went diving and I went snorkeling). The purpose of our mission was to gather some fresh lobsters before the season expired at the end of the month and we, (he), collected ten nice ones. My buddy is an expert diver and did the lobster collecting while I snorkeled around observing brightly colored tropical fish and coral life. Our expedition was conducted not far from my home, inside the reef in about fifteen to twenty feet of crystal clear turquoise-blue-green water.

It was amazing to me how strong the current is when you are in the water versus observing it from a boat. I had come to this same area many times in order to catch bait and although I was cognizant of the current because it is easier to attract bait with a current, because the chum that is used to attract the bait covers a wider area and attracts them far better than if there is little to no current; however observing it from a boat does not give you the same perspective of actually being in the water and “feeling the pull” of the current.

I was drifting along snorkeling and really got into observing a group of parrot fish and when I tired of it I decided I would head back to the boat and get something to eat. When I looked for the boat, it was at least one hundred yards behind me. The current was pulling me along at a very good clip and it was a little difficult to swim back to the boat even with flippers on. I was amazed when I got back in the boat that when I observed the water from above, it did not have the appearance of a hard current ripping along beneath the surface at all, and seemed from above according to all criteria to be lazily and gently lapping at the side of the boat in what I would describe as near dead calm.

I was thinking of the concept of having faith in things unseen. I have some friends who cannot develop faith in God because God remains unseen to normal human sensory perception devices. I tell my buddies routinely that there are other things that are unseen that they believe in such as a television signal. I have never seen a signal, but I know that it is there just the same, because when I turn on my television I see some silly program appear. The same with a radio signal. We cannot see them, but just turn on the radio and music or mindless chatter is instantly forthcoming. The same holds true for the current. It cannot be observed, but just get in the water and you will no doubt “feel the pull” of the current pulling you along.

I feel the pull of God; I also feel the pull of satan. Satan tries to pull me into death and destruction just as a dangerous rip current can pull you two miles out into the ocean. God pulls me towards the righteous things of life and it is a constant battle between dark and light. I do not have to see satan or God to realize their influence in my life. I have no trouble with the concept of God being everywhere either; to me it is similar to a radio, TV signal, or cell phone signal. I don’t have any problem believing those signals exist, and are there unseen, and I do not have any trouble knowing God is similarly there.

The Bible states that only a fool says in their heart that there is no God. All we have to do is look around. I awoke this morning because the moon was shining and reflecting off the ocean into my bedroom and even though the moon is waning, it was so bright it looked like daylight in my bedroom. I went out on my deck and admired God’s handiwork, taking in His stars, His moon, and the diamond moonlight sparkles coming off His ocean. As I write this, I see His beautiful orange sun rising over the ocean to heat His beautiful earth which in turn will create clouds to water His flora and quench the thirst of His fauna. I see God all around me and I feel the pull of God towards His love, and I do not intend to resist it. I hope you will join me on this expedition as it leads to happiness and peace.

Proverbs 16:20
And whoever trusts in the
Lord, happy is he