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High school boys don’t always make the best decisions, especially when you put us behind the wheel of a car. Take the day of my senior awards ceremony, for instance. I was going to pick up a friend who needed a ride and thought I had plenty of time before the program started. On a normal day it would have been no problem, but I’d forgotten about the rain. We’d had a stormy week, and a little flooding. However, by Thursday it was nothing but blue skies and sunshine. Unfortunately, blue skies don’t necessarily mean dry roads. I was cruising down the highway with my stereo up and windows down when I saw the road closed sign. High water. Well, that was a problem. Fortunately, I’d just passed a county road that I figured would get me where I needed to go . . . eventually. I’d never been down any of the back roads in this area, but what else could I do? This was 1990, long before the days of cell phones and the internet so I didn’t have a lot of choices. Without a paper map in the glove compartment, my only options were to turn around and head home or go exploring. So, I backtracked to the county road and decided to go off the beaten path. I drove about a quarter of a mile through cornfields when I popped up over a hill and saw it. More high water. A flooded pond had spilled out over the road into the field on the other side. The water looked totally dead, no current, and I thought I could tell how deep it was by how high it went on the fence on each side of the road. I figured if I took it slow, I could make it. I know! I know! 52 year-old me looks back at that day and screams, “Don’t do it! Don’t be stupid!” But, like I said, I was a high school boy. We don’t always make the best decisions. I tapped the gas and eased my old Chevy Nova into the water. Once I got about halfway across, my stomach sank as I watched the water creep up on the doors higher than I’d expected. A glubglub sound emerged from the tailpipe as water began to cover it. What would I do if the car stalled halfway through? It’s not like I could call someone to come help. I had no choice but just keep going. It seemed to take forever. After a few tense moments, I made it out the other side, drove up the next hill and breathed a deep sigh of relief. In Deep Water Everyday Adventures I realized what a dumb and dangerous move that had been and was thrilled I’d somehow made it through. When I topped another hill, however, I discovered a nasty surprise. The next valley was flooded too. It looked slightly shallower, but was a longer stretch of road. It was decision time. Do I keep going or try to turn around? I wasn’t positive I could make it back through the water I’d just crossed. I’d gotten myself in so deep (in more ways than one), it seemed like there was no good choice. I pressed on. Another tense few minutes, and then I climbed out the next hill. And guess what I found on the other side? Another flooded field! By the time I crossed the third water-covered valley, my stomach was tight and hands were shaking. I was a nervous wreck. How long was this going to go on, and what if the next patch of flooded road was deeper? Thankfully, the third time was a charm, and the road wound back around to the highway. I’d never been happier to see a yellow line down the middle of a highway in my life. When I got to my friend’s house, we took the long way back to school, another road that went in a completely different direction. Hopefully you’ve never been foolish enough to try and cross high water like I did. Those stories don’t always have happy endings. However, even if you’ve never been as reckless as me, you may have discovered it doesn’t take actual water to get yourself in over your head. We human beings have an incredible knack for getting ourselves in trouble. Whether it’s through unhealthy relationships, financial choices, health choices or moral choices, it doesn’t take much before we find ourselves in a mess. You take one step, then another. Then it seems like there’s no way back. The good news, though, is no matter how deep the water seems in our lives right now, when it feels like we don’t have any good choices, there is one wise choice we can alway make: ask for help from the God who loves us. When a friend of God named David found himself in over his head, he cried out to God. Here’s how David described God’s response, “He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters” (Psalm 18:16 NLT). God’s arm is long. His heart is big, and He’s still in the business of rescuing those who cry out for help. That doesn’t mean He takes all of our troubles away, but He will always walk through the waters with us and show us the safe road home. • Photo credit: JSim2018 / shutterstock.com. Jason Byerly is a writer, pastor, husband and dad who loves the quirky surprises God sends his way every day. You can read more from Jason in his books Tales from the Leaf Pile and Holiday Road. You can catch up with Jason on his blog at www.jasonbyerly.com. <strong>Southern</strong> <strong>Indiana</strong> <strong>Living</strong> • Mar/Apr <strong>2024</strong> • 37
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