A) Grab
a rock
B) Clutch
at a straw
C) Yell
for Help
D) Die
These are probably the
kind of multiple-choice questions that you just HATE getting in exams because
all the answers seem plausible. Okay, TWO answers seem most plausible. However,
if you knew the saying you would know that there is only ONE right answer.
Answer: A Drowning Man
Will…
(B) Clutch at a Straw.
So, why am I talking
about this saying? Simple. At one point last month I was feeling really down
about life in general. At the moment I was feeling that way my mind desperately
searched for words to describe the way that I felt. In a fraction of a second
my mind conjured up that saying. It was something that I read as a child. Along
with “A rolling stone gathers no moss”, and “blood is thicker than water” etc.
As I started pondering on that note I began to really think about what that
silly saying meant.
It makes sense that a drowning
man will clutch at a straw because a drowning man will clutch at anything. I suspect that that is exactly what the saying means. That a drowning
man will grab for ANYTHING that will bring about some small hope of survival,
even a straw.
I liken that to what I
was going through because I felt so desperately lost that I could have grabbed
for any piece of comfort like Devil’s Food Cake. The real stuff. Though sadly
and realistically, most people get lost and desperate enough to clutch the
figurative stuff; the filthy things that decorate the devil’s dinner table. Everything on his table is alluring, beautiful, and sweet-smelling but the core is destructive to the soul, it is seeded with poison, and filled with toxic addictions. They serve no real purpose and give no lasting satisfaction, all these things can be summed up in - 'The straw'.
In mankind's frantic search
for safety from the cold water crashing into their lungs they will death-grip
anything solid. A whiskey bottle. A heroin needle. A wad of cash. A cigarette.
A revealing dress. Hoping beyond hope that somehow these things whether alone
or combined will give them the peace and comfort that they’re truly seeking
for. But it will not! None of what the world offers can ever save you. Alcohol
will not. Drugs will not. Pornography will not. Money will not. The world will not.
Q) So WHY is this
world infested with people who believe that these things will save them?
Answer: "For there are many yet on the earth among all sects, parties, and denominations, who are blinded by the subtle craftiness of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, and who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it" - Doctrine & Covenants 123:12
As a Latter-day Saint I
know that we must always hold onto the Rod of Iron, which is the word of God and I
also understand that the mist of darkness falls on ALL who travel the road (1 Nephi 8:24). This means that ALL people at one point or another will
find themselves in a mental prison where the mist of darkness is so great that
it can only be compared to the distress and desperation of a drowning man.
Q) So, how can we escape
drowning?
Answer: By learning how to swim. :P Okay but really the real question is:
Q) How do we escape the
mental, emotional, and spiritual drowning?
Answer: By getting saved, and we do this by calling on the Lifeguard. Many believe that through their own strength they can save themselves but in all honesty, they cannot. Only Jesus Christ can save you. Jesus Christ is the Lifeguard. For He has said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). When you are neck deep in trouble, pain, hurt, anguish, sin,
misery ONLY HE can lift you up and out.
Last but not least -
As followers of Jesus Christ, YOU (and I) MUST bring the world the truth. We must place it square in the center of every household so that all man will know to whom they can turn to for peace and solace. So that EVERY DROWNING MAN AND WOMAN will know that they do not HAVE to rely on a silly straw for safety and rescue. They can call on the name of the Only True Redeemer and Savior - Jesus Christ.
