Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. PSALM 23:4, NKJV
I had been snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia for hours, enjoying the amazing diversity of life in the water. During one of the breaks on the boat, the dive master asked me if I wanted to try a quick dive. As long as he accompanied me, I didn’t have to have a certification—this sounded exciting! Over the next fifteen minutes, the dive master prepared me for the dive. We talked about the oxygen tank and how to use the regulator for breathing. We also talked about some basic sign-language signals we could use to communicate under water. In the event any water seeped into my mask while diving deep under the surface, he also showed me how to blow water out of my mask without having to surface. I wasn’t certified, but at least I knew the safety basics. We jumped in the water, and I tried my best to quickly adjust to breathing through a regulator. After a few moments, the instructor motioned me to follow him.
I was immediately impressed with the weight of the water. The lower I went, the heavier the water pressed against my body. Water is heavy! We spent about ten minutes checking out the deeper parts of the reef. At one moment, the instructor pointed something out to me about twenty-five feet below us—it was a shark! I estimated that it was about five feet long. During the ride out on the boat we had actually spent some time learning about sharks, so I was able to quickly identify it as a nurse shark. Fortunately, nurse sharks do not bother humans and are not considered a threat. For a moment, though, I was a little startled!
Because of sin, fear is a normal part of life. Everyone has fears. The good news Is that GOD promises to comfort us when we’re scared. It’s so comforting to know that we can go through life being fearless because GOD is with us.