Have you ever gotten yourself in so deep you didn’t know which way was up?

Dennis Rainy told a story on Family Life Today recounted in Stu Webber’s Book “Four Pillars of a Man’s Heart“, about a missionary family on furlough, two children, a little boy age 3 and a little girl age 6. They had been blessed with a stay at a fabulous lake house with a dock and a boat house. The children were outside playing being watched by their 12 year old niece, the father was tinkering in the boat house. The two girls became distracted and didn’t notice the three year old had caught sight of that shiny aluminum boat down at the dock and decided he would like to climb aboard. Being three he fell in making his attempt, falling right between the boat and the dock plunging into the water with a great splash. The niece let out a blood curdling scream, the father hearing it rushed out and was pointed to the place where the little boy had fallen in the water.

The father dove in but the water was too murky to see anything, though only a few feet deep. He desperately searched for his little boy till he could hold his breath no longer he came up. He then took a big breath and went down again, searching and searching desperately trying to find his precious son, yet once again beyond need for air he surfaced to take a third breath feeling he had no more time to save his sons life, he reached out stretching all he could with both his arms and legs and miraculously he felt his boy where he did not expect. The little guy had a death grip on the post holding the dock, it still took even more precious moments to pry his grip from the dock finally he brought his treasure to the surface and began to resuscitate him.

The boy was OK, but it still took about 20 minutes for the both of them to get a hold of reality. Finally the father asked the little guy why he was holding on so tight to that post, his answer is too deep for words and brings me so much hope. He said,”I was holding on waiting for you dad, I knew you would come.” Let that sink in, have you ever been in so deep all you could do was cling onto that faith that your heavenly father would come?

As I have examined that wisdom all week, I would note that the boy grabbed onto the only solid thing he could and did not let go. The Bible is filled with such stories, I think of Jacob who grabbed on in the wrestling match with God. This marinating in my mind, deep in prayer Tuesday morning God took me to Romans 8:26 and submerged I went down deeper still.

“26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

As I considered that “too deep for words” I went to look up the Greek “alalētos” Meaning the negative particle of the Alpha. My interpretation of that is; “beyond the beginning”, now that is too deep for words or my understanding. With new enthusiasm I decided to go study the Alpha and Omega, that seemed a post I could hold onto in the these deep waters. So I went to Revelation 1:8

“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”

Studying that I discovered a deeper understanding, That phrase was used by Isaiah three times in his prophesy Is 41:4, 43:10, 44:6 and 48:12, clearly God wants us to know Him as the Beginning and the End. Now I could look up the Hebrew for Alpha which I discovered was “ro’sh”.

Diving deeper I found these posts to grab onto, in Genesis 2:10 – it’s the head of the river flowing out of Eden and in Genesis 3:15 

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, H7218 and thou shalt bruise his heel.

In the line of a stream all the waters flow after it from the head, Jesus did bruise Satan’s head so that we could get in-line under Jesus head. Satan attacks the Omega, the back of the pack nipping at their heals the weakest and the slowest and the least connected to the herd. Such was the case with Judas.

Like Jacob, (the heal grabber) who became Israel, (the God grabber), God called him his son: Exodus 4:22-23

22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, 23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’”

Get in-line, God’s line, grab onto the pillar of Romans 8:26 this is too deep for me God, so I trust your Holy Spirit, to intercede for me with groanings from the deep.