One of the older boys swam out to the middle of the pond while his friends stood along the shore, splashing and teasing each other. As the old saying goes, "Boys will be boys!"

Their fun was suddenly interrupted with a scream, "Help! Help me! I have a cramp in my leg. Help me!" All the boys on shore stood frozen. What to do? They turned to the oldest boy and yelled, "Go save him! Hurry! Save him!"

The boy stood petrified as a statue, watching every move of his drowning friend. His young companions urged him, "Go rescue him! Go!" He was frozen.

As the struggling boy started going down for the last time, all seemed lost. Then, like a bolt of lighting, the older boy on the shore dove into the water. Swimming with calculated precision, he reached down and gabbed the drowning boy’s hair, pulling him to the surface. Then, holding onto his arm, he swam to shore where his friends pulled the boy onto the beach. After he coughed up some water and took a deep gasp, the three younger boys started yelling at their older friend.

"Why didn’t you go sooner? You almost let him drown!" they scolded.

"If I would have tried to save him while he was struggling, he would have drowned us both," the hero explained. "By waiting until he came to the point of giving up, I was able to save him!" Such it is for each one of us. We fight our problems in our own power, drowning in our helplessness. It is not until we realize our own weakness and inability to save ourselves that Christ can finally dive in to save us!

In the middle of the night during a great storm, struggling to save themselves on their sinking vessel, the disciples of Jesus finally gave up. They cried out, "Lord, save us: we perish!" (Matthew 8:25).

"How often the disciples' experience is ours! When the tempests of temptation gather, and the fierce lightnings flash, and the waves sweep over us, we battle with the storm alone, forgetting that there is One who can help us. We trust to our own strength till our hope is lost, and we are ready to perish. Then we remember Jesus, and if we call upon Him to save us, we shall not cry in vain. Though He sorrowfully reproves our unbelief and self-confidence, He never fails to give us the help we need. Whether on the land or on the sea, if we have the Saviour in our hearts, there is no need of fear. Living faith in the Redeemer will smooth the sea of life, and will deliver us from danger in the way that He knows to be best." The Desire of Ages, p. 336.