Rescued from deep waters

to dodge. But on this particular trip there was not a rock to be seen anywhere; they were buried deep under the powerful water. Even the fairly tall tree that has been growing out of one of the rocks in the water just below our house was completely gone, no doubt having been knocked down by a log or some other debris racing downstream.

We made our way into the water, and all was well. The current was about twice as fast as normal, and I estimated we would be down river in about 25 minutes or so.

As we got near the bridge just before the take-out site, the water was absolutely raging. It is the rockiest spot in the river. We had to fight hard to get through the five and six foot white water swells without capsizing the kayaks.

But we made it through successfully. 200 yards later or so, we could get out of the water. We breathed a sigh of relief, and then in a flash of time realized we had breathed that sigh of relief far too soon.

I was staying behind and just to the right of my son in case anything went wrong with him. And it did. As he tried to make the turn out of the raging current into the cove, he turned too sharply and immedi- ately flipped his kayak.

It was bad. Very bad. There was no way he could get his footing, and no way he could get out of the current. Within seconds I had raced to where he was and gotten hold of him. He was still trying to hold onto his kayak, worried about losing it. I told him, “let it go. I can replace a kayak, I cannot replace you.” He let it go, and if anyone between the foothills of North Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean finds it, a 10-foot green kayak with a phone number written on the inside wall, please call that number and let me know.

With some Herculean effort, I managed to paddle us near enough to shore for him to grab a branch. Then he pulled himself and my kayak and me the rest of the way in. Then we stood on the bank and prayed, and thanked God for preserving his life.

Irresistible attraction to adrenaline or not, we will not be trying that again, ever. I was able to rescue my son from the deep waters, though, and for that I am grateful.

I am also grateful that God has so often rescued me from the deep waters. Psalm 69:1-2 says, “Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.” The psalmist knew what it was like to feel helpless and in despair as the deep waters rolled over him, and he could not seem to get his footing. Every child of God has likely been there. And time after time there has been a very good God there to reach out and grab us.

Despair is common to life. Job said, “Man that is born of woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” People face health issues, financial trials, marital strife, the stress of raising children, problems on the job, and a thousand other pressures day by day that threaten to drown us. But from experience as a born again child of God and from Scripture itself I can tell you that God has never yet failed to hear the plea of his children, and that means it is always worth our time to cry out to him in our troubles. Our hearts will break, our circumstances will often overwhelm, but at the end of it all there will always be a God to reach down and pull us out of the deep waters, whether that means him setting our feet down on a solid rock here, or on the street of gold there.

Bo Wagner is pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Mooresboro, N.C. He is a widely traveled evangelist and the author of several books. He can be reached by email at 2knowhim@cbcweb.org.