Thankfully, few of us have seen someone drown. But we have seen drownings and near-drownings on TV, so we think we know what to expect. The victim splashes and flails around while screaming and shouting. In real life, drowning is not the violent, splashing shouts for help that we see on TV. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet and quick event. During aquatic distress, the victim’s “Instinctive Drowning Response” activates several involuntarily reactions to avoid suffocation in the water. Drowning victims do not splash or wave their arms. They do not yell or call for help. They seem almost calm as they battle to keep their nose and mouth above the water. People have drowned in very shallow water, often close to family and friends because no one near them perceived the danger and no one recognized a struggling victim. Many brothers and sisters in our church family are drowning spiritually, but we are not noticing their distress. Their difficulties and worries may seem small to us. They are not crying out for help. They do not appear to be in distress. And so we do not reach out to rescue them and pull them to safety.
As sinners in a fallen world we all struggle from time to time with our marriage, our finances, our health, our families, our career, and our friends & neighbors. And at times the burden will be more than we can bear alone. Instead of crying out for help or flailing around, people may suffer in silence and withdraw from others. The New Testament has nearly sixty “one another” commands for living in Christian community including loving, serving, honoring, encouraging, forgiving, teaching, and admonishing one another. Helping to carry one another’s burdens is to fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6). A critical aspect of these “one another” commands is that sometimes we dispense love and grace to others, and sometimes we receive kindness and blessings from others.
Most of us would ease the burdens of others if we only knew who was struggling or how to help. When seeking to help others, a good place to start is to remember when we have been overwhelmed in our own lives and to use the comforts and blessings God provided to us for ministering to others. God has a long history of blessing His people to be a blessing to others (see Abraham in Genesis 12). and comforting His people so we can comfort others in their afflictions (2 Corinthians 1). When we remember our own experiences of spiritually near-drownings, then we can more clearly see the signs of distress in others. Deliberately seeking out others who are overwhelmed is the first step toward rescuing them and pulling them to safety. And we can pray that God will open our eyes and our hearts to the struggles of others. By His grace we can help Jesus fulfill His promise of rest for those who are weary from their efforts and weighed down by their burdens (Matthew 11). Let’s not wait while others continue to suffer. Let’s not just hope someone else comes to their rescue. Let’s not delay while sin wins another battle.