A New Day

 By: Pastor Johnie Akers 

Psalm 55:6, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away. . .” A couple on a helicopter flight over the Australian coast saw a seal in the ocean below them. They pulled out their video camera and started filming. What happened next took their breath away. Crashing out of the water emerged a Great White Shark around 21 feet long. It lunged at the seal, which somehow managed to escape the shark’s jaws. The shark gave chase, all the time being captured on this couple’s video. In open sea the seal didn’t stand a chance—or so everyone thought until the seal performed the most extraordinary maneuver. It wheeled around and started chasing the shark. There it sat, this 9 foot seal, right on the 21 foot long Great White Shark’s tail. It chased and chased until the shark grew tired and gave up. What was happening? It seems that the seal knew it didn’t stand a chance fleeing from the shark. But as long as it could stay behind the shark, sitting on its tail, the shark couldn’t bite it. And so he just stayed there until the shark tired. There’s a good lesson here for how we deal with our problems in life. Often we try to run from them, hoping they’ll go away. The reality is that in the end they often wear us down. However, if we’re smart we’ll be like the seal. We’ll confront the problems, chase them down, and by facing up to them, and end up dealing with them in a way that renders them ineffective. In our Scripture lesson today, David, obviously troubled, is longing for wings that he may fly away from all of his troubles. Friend, it sounds too good to be true—and it is. Avoiding problems does not solve them. The best approach is the approach taken by the little seal. Instead of having the “sharks” of life chasing you, why not chase them. Why not take a proactive approach and directly confront the issues that threaten to overtake you. Like the little seal, stay on the heels of your problems until they succumb to your tenacity. It may be a new strategy, but it’s one that will give you the confidence and victory you need to overcome with each new day.