Psalm 46:10
On the way back to Florida, we stopped beside a waterway and walked out onto a pier where we came upon a young man fishing. Just as we neared him, he had a tug on his line and yelled for help so my husband quickly walked over to assist him, and as the fish came over the rail, to our surprise, it was a shark. A small one, but no less a shark!
As soon as he saw it, the young man backed away, obviously a little frightened. He said he wanted to throw it back, but didn’t know how to get the hook out. So my husband reached for his pliers and began working to loosen the hook, but the fish fought hard against him, flopping in every which direction. That fish was totally oblivious to the fact that if it would just be still, it would quickly get back into the water where it desperately wanted to be.
As I stood there watching this fish wiggle and squirm, fighting against my husband, I couldn’t help but think of myself when I'm snagged by a “hook” in life—something difficult, disappointing, distressful or even disheartening—often I react just as did that fish. Perhaps you do too. We flop back-and-forth, fighting with everything we’ve got, thinking the harder we fight, the sooner we’ll get relief. And like that shark, we’re simply oblivious to the fact that if we would just be still, God could do His work in removing the “hook.” You see, it wasn’t until the fish stopped struggling that my husband was able to get the hook out and release it back into the water.
Who would have ever thought a shark would help me understand the value of being still?
Love and blessings,
Judy Rose Grubaugh