As the story goes, some
years ago, on a hot summer day in south Florida, a
little boy decided to go for a swim in the old
swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive
into the cool water, he ran out the back door,
leaving behind shoes, socks and shirt as he
went. He flew into the water, not realizing
that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an
alligator was swimming toward the shore.
Never forget
who was there for you when no one else was. |
His mother, in the house and looking out the
window, saw the two as they got closer and closer
together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water,
yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing
her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made
a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late.
Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.
From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy
by the arms just as the alligator snatched his
legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between
the two. The alligator was much stronger
than the mother, but the mother was much too
passionate to let go.
A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams,
raced from his truck, took aim and shot the
alligator. Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in
the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs
were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of
the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches
where his mother's fingernails dug into his flesh
in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.
The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy
after the trauma asked if he would show him his
scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then,
with obvious pride, he said to the reporter,
"But look at my arms. I have great scars on
my arms, too. I have them because my mom wouldn't
let go."
The brightest future will always be
based on a forgotten past. You can't
go on well in life until you let go
of your past failures and heart
aches. |
You and I can identify with that little boy. We
have scars, too, not from an alligator, but the
scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are
unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But some
wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to
let go. In the midst of our struggle, He's been
there holding on to us. The Scripture teaches
that God loves us. We are child of God. He
wants to protect us and provide for us in every
way.
But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations, not knowing what lies ahead. The
swimming hole of life is filled with peril - and
we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack.
That's when the tug-of-war begins - and if we
have the scars of His love on our arms, let's be very,
very grateful. He did not, and will not, ever
let us go.
God
has blessed us, so that we can be a blessing to
others. We just never know where a person is in
his/her life and what they're going through. Let
us never
judge another persons scars, because we don't
know how they got them.
By Tim Pedrosa
The
secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past,
worry about the future, nor anticipate troubles but to live in the
present moment wisely and earnestly.
~Buddha~ |
Tim
|