The Dead Man's Float

There’s a song we sing with the kids during Vacation Bible School called Pharaoh Pharaoh. One of the verses ends with the kids going limp and singing “And all of Pharaoh’s army did the dead man’s float.” Swimmers know that this is an actual position used for life saving purposes for when things are at their worst. Imagine being stuck on a sinking ship in the middle of the sea without any land in sight or anything to cling to. If you can somehow manage to relax and let your body’s natural buoyancy take over, keeping your head just barely above water so your airways are dry; you just might stand a chance of letting the current take you to the nearest shoreline. Exhausted, beat up, at your mental and physical limits; the only thing you have left in you is to sit back and let the tides take you where they may. For better or worse your fate rests in whichever way the winds blow.

This may seem like a scenario most of us are not likely to face, but some of us are doing the dead man’s float this very moment and not even realizing it. Your feelings have been hurt. You’ve lost your faith, your trust in God, in His church, and you are just going through the motions letting the tide take you where it sees fit. You feel like you’ve got nothing else to give and you’re hurt too bad to do anything more than keep your head barely above water. Will you end up in a good place? Will you be worse off than before? Those questions aren’t up you to answer any longer….unless you kick. If you are reading this and find yourself floating through life, I urge you to kick! Point yourself towards God, towards His church, stop floating, and start fighting for your soul! I know these words are easier to write than they are to act on, but you are not alone! God is by your side, Jesus died so you would have a chance to survive, and there are people all around that want to help. Send up a flare, get somebody’s attention, ask for a prayer, tell them you are drowning and need something to hold on to. Stop floating and start swimming towards Christ.