Going Down?

Don Stuckey was rather tall, strong, brave, and adventuresome. He grew up near my home town in Florida---around water, boats, and fishing, but oddly enough, Don had never learned to swim.

One day while boating alone on the lake, Don's boat took on so much water that it sank. The situation immediately became dangerous and desperate, for Don had no life jacket. Don was suddenly sinking and on the verge of having his young teenage life come to a stunning and tragic end. The water was was over his 6ft. 5in. lanky body and there was no one to rescue him.

Or was there?

Don quickly did what many desperate folks do. He prayed. It was serious prayer. Life or death prayer. After flailing, gasping, sucking in gobs of water and some powerful calling on God for mercy, Don Stuckey was suddenly and miraculously saved. God had formed a small mound of lake bottom that Don discovered with his feet. My friend could stand on this unbelievable, small diameter mound and keep his head out of the water. He did that for some time until someone came to his rescue.

When did God form this mound? Maybe when the lake was formed or just at the moment Don needed it. For God, it was a piece of cake---er---dirt.

There is an elemnet in this story that perhaps you have wondered about. You see, when Don's boat sank, he had no relationship with God. He knew ABOUT God but did not know Him as his savior and best friend. But Don knew to call on God. And in his desperate prayer, Don made a promise to God. It was a promise that he would surrender his life to God and serve him. Don is one of those rare people who followed through with his promise.

Made any promises to God?

Don Stuckey decided that if he is going to die, he would rather be going up.

A Bottle in the Smoke

Ever get that parched, dry, shrivelled, tainted, burnt out feeling? Perhaps the Psalmist describes your situation. If anyone knew what it was to struggle, it was often David in his spiritual plight.

The bottle in the smoke was actually a wineskin, made from the hind leg of a sheep or goat. It was used to contain and carry milk, water, or wine. When not in use for travel or a trip to the fields, the wineskin was hung up in the tent and sometimes on the roof of a permanent house. The fire built to break the chill of cold desert nights would soot and smoke the wineskin. The smoke wafted its way over to the wineskin and began a tainting & drying process. The once useful wineskin would eventually shrink and dry so much that it would crack and become rather useless.

Feeling rather useless is not a good nor welcome experience. The good news is that there was and is a way to revive the wineskin and prolong its usefulness. The owner of the wineskin would wash and clean the sooty and dry old bottle. Then he would bathe the wineskin with oil, restoring its suppleness and its usefulness.

David revealed a key to the washing and oiling when he said: For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; [yet] do I not forget thy statutes. The "yet" is not present in the Hebrew, but it is implied. David was clinging to God, but more importantly, God was clinging to him. He seems to be saying that troubles and fiery tests may blur our vision and sometimes bring a dryness, but we are refreshed by the washing of the word & the bathing of the Holy Spirit.

Remember the Lord's Word, cling to it, and receive His gracious restoration.