When I was in the first grade, my dad, who was a career Army man, was assigned to a very small base in the South Pacific almost on the equator. The island was part of the Admiralty group, Manus or Los Negros. At the time it was under Australian control. Now it is a part of Papua New Guinea.
We lived on the beach. Our home was a Quonset hut that my dad had remodeled. The Island was an Atoll encircled by a coral barrier reef. In front of our home was a lagoon, and beyond it was the coral reef. Then the open ocean.
My dad decided he would go lobstering. At night, he would take a waterproof flashlight and walk along the reef spotting lobsters. He would get a breath of air, go underwater and pry a lobster off the reef.
He thought I should go with him. Since the tide and waves washed back and forth across the reef and often made me float with it, I was instructed to “hang on to his belt and not let go”. As we started, I hung on for dear life. When he got a breath and went underwater to explore I was left on the surface. It seemed as if I was totally alone. In the dark, hanging on to a belt that disappeared in the water. But I hung on to the belt Soon I was more or less floating in the waves. It was cold at night and soon I was shivering. Then something, I have no idea what, touched me. To my mind came images of sharks or saltwater crocodiles. We often saw sharks just outside the reef. The crocodiles lived in the ocean as well as in the creeks and streams all around the island. I was terrified but I did as Dad said and hung on to him as the waves, tide, cold, darkness and mental fears engulfed me. We always made it back to land.
Even now, when I get cold, confused, and unable to see the future I re-experience those emotions.
When I am scared, confused, and almost overcome with the circumstances, I remember, just “hang on to Dad’s belt”.
Then I remember that Jesus holds on to me. That is a much safer place than Dad’s belt.