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The Swim Test

By Guy K. Henry

www.guyhenry.com

I was eleven years old the first time I went to Boy Scout camp. I remember the bus ride as being both filled with anticipation and dread.

I had heard of all the fun things that there were to do at camp. Those who had been there before were happy to tell their tales of adventure to us first timers.

There was one part of this camp that I was going to have a big problem with. That was the swimming test. I had heard that once we arrived, the first thing we would do is go to the lake and take a swimming test. For most of the scouts on the bus, that would not be a big deal.

You see, I seem to have a knack for finding the bottoms of pools and lakes. It’s staying on top of the water that is a big problem. Yes, I don’t swim. I sink.

The bus finally arrived at the camp. We quickly unpacked, and were herded off to the lake for the swimming test. Oh, how I wanted to be just about anywhere else.

We all sat down on the sand and waited for our instructions. All too soon the head lifeguard greeted us.

“Boys,” he said in his best ‘tough guy’ voice. “This is MY lake. I am the king of the lake, and I want you to know, I run a SAFE lake.”

I quietly thought to myself that he was welcome to his lake. I’d be glad to take the land.

“In just a minute, you will take my swimming test,” he continued. “The reason that we give you a swimming test is to tell how good a swimmer you are.”

He then picked up a bag. “At the end of the test, I will give you a wristband. Take careful notice of the color of the band, because that will tell you where you can go on my lake, and what you can do.”

First he pulled out a gold colored wristband. “If I give you a gold band, that means I think you are a great swimmer. You will be allowed to swim in the deep area. You also will be allowed to take out the canoes and sailboats, all by yourself.”

Then he pulled out a green band. “This is a green band. If I give you one of these, you will be allowed to swim in the middle area. You can also take out a canoe or a rowboat, WITH A BUDDY.”

“This is the last band,” he said as he started to grunt out a few laughs. Many of the boys in the audience nervously laughed with him.

“Do you see what color this band is?” he said grinning ear to ear.

“PINK!” the boys called out.

“That’s right, pink,” he said. “No boy wants a pink band.”

“Pink,” I thought, “at an all boys camp?”

“If I give you a pink band,” the lifeguard grinned, “that means that I think you can’t swim.”

“Just give me one of those now,” I thought.

“Would any one like to know what you can do on my lake if you get a pink band?”

“YES!” the boys who knew they wouldn’t get one cheered.

“If you have a pink wristband, you get to swim in this little shallow area here, WITH A BUDDY!” He seemed to really enjoy this part of his speech. “Not only that, but you get to visit me every morning so I can teach you how to SWIM!”

Then he got serious, “NO PINK BOYS WILL BE ALLOWED TO SKIP SWIMMING LESSONS!”

“Ugh,” I thought. The only thing worse than swimming for a person who sinks is swimming lessons.

All too soon it was my turn to be tested. “Jump in!” the lifeguard said.

I knew better that to argue with the king of the lake. I jumped in, and quickly began to sink. I furiously worked my arms and legs and still I was under the water. In a little while I heard the splash of the life preserver ring. I reached out and grabbed it. Shortly I pulled myself back onto the dock.

Mr. Lifeguard was grinning. “Here ya’ go,” he said, his fingers dangling a pink wristband. “I’ll see you in the morning for swimming lessons.”

I slowly sulked back to the campsite. I glared at my pink band. I hated it.

Just before I came to the campsite I stopped. I spied something bright underneath a bush. I carefully got closer to see what it was.

I could not believe what I was seeing. I was afraid to blink my eyes in case when I opened them the treasure before me would be gone.

Words quietly slipped from my mouth. “A gold swimmer’s wrist band.” I looked around me to make sure no one had seen me. I thought for almost half a second about what to do.

Quickly I snapped up the golden band. In an instant the pink band was tossed underneath the bush, and the gold one was on my wrist. I held my head up high as I paraded into the campsite wearing my gold wristband. I was sure that everyone was noticing it, which was perfectly fine with me.

That week I stayed clear of the lake. Nobody questioned me about my swimming skills. Instead of swimming, which I did not enjoy, I did fun things like hiking, survival, and a HAM radio class. My stay at camp switched from miserable to wonderful the moment I first wore the gold wristband.

It was the day before we would go home when I finally came close to the lake. I hadn’t meant to pass by the sailboat dock. Before I could turn around, the counselor in charge of the sailboats called out to me. “Hey, do you want to take a sailboat out on the lake?”

I should have said, “No thank you,” but I didn’t. They sure looked like fun. In less than a minute, I was climbing aboard a little blue sailboat.

“I see you have a golden swimming band,” the counselor said.

I nodded.

“Well then, you won’t need to wear this life jacket. Just keep it in the boat with you,” he said as he tossed a tattered orange life preserver into the boat.

“Thanks,” I said.

“You do know how to work a sailboat, don’t you?” he asked.

I am quite sure that he thought I was someone else, someone who had been sailing all week. I didn’t want to disappoint him, so I lied, “Yes, I do.”

He untied my blue boat and gave it a shove out into the lake. I looked down at my golden wristband, and somehow hoped that by wearing it all week I’d have a successful ride.

I pulled on a few ropes, not really sure how to make the boat move. Then, a strong gust of wind filled the sails. I grabbed hold of the rudder as the boat took off.

I was impressed with myself. The boat sped across the lake. Soon the people back on the beach were little dots. I was sure that anyone who was watching me would think I was a natural born sailor. I was able to steer, and not tip over. Things were going well.

After a little while I heard the sound of horns going off. “WHAAAAAAAAA! WHAAAAAAA!”

I knew that meant that it was time to bring my boat back. Until then I hadn’t thought anything of how I was going to turn the boat around. I wiggled the rudder. That wasn’t going to turn the boat around. Then I started pulling on the ropes. Suddenly the sail swept across the boat and knocked me out into the cold water. I stretch my legs out, desperately hoping to feel a piece of land, or a little rock. All I felt was water. Cold water.

I thought to myself, “Do not panic. Just gently work your way back to the boat.”

I kicked my legs as hard as I could, trying to get closer to the boat. I saw the orange life jacket, and wished that I were wearing it.

A few moments later I swallowed a mouthful of water. I started to panic. My gold swimming band was of no help to me!

The beach was too far away for me to see anybody, much less scream for help. I thought I was alone.

Somebody was watching me. The King of the Lake, Mr. Swimming Test, reached into the side of his white lifeguard chair and pulled out a pair of binoculars. He quickly focused them on my boat, and on the splashing water near it.

Instantly he leapt off of his perch and vaulted into a motorboat marked ‘LIFEGUARD’. Seconds later he was speeding across the lake, in my direction.

I didn’t see my rescuer until just seconds before he brought the boat to a stop. I am not sure if it was the waves from his boat, or if I just ran out of energy, but I sunk underneath the water. I looked out and saw the outline of his motorboat. Then I saw a big hand slice into the water. I reached out and tried to grab it. He soon made contact, and yanked me out of the water like I was a little goldfish.

The Lake King didn’t say a word. I sat in his boat dripping and shivering, and most importantly filling my lungs with air. I was too scared to say anything either.

Quietly he tied a rope to my empty sailboat. Then he revved up the engine and headed back to the beach.

I knew I was in trouble, and yet there was nothing they could do to me that would have been a worse punishment than almost drowning on the bottom of the lake.

It seemed like it took a very long time until we returned to the sailboat dock. Mr. Lifeguard pulled his boat to the edge and signaled for me to get out. I sheepishly moved to the side of the boat. I couldn’t wait to put my feet on the land.

Just before I got off his boat, Mr. Lifeguard finally spoke.

“Give it to me.”

I gave him a stupid look, even though I knew exactly what he wanted.

“Give it to me,” he repeated in an even more serious voice.

I slid my gold band off my wrist. He held out the same big hand he used to pull me out of the lake, and I dropped my golden swimming band into it.

His fist closed. That was the last time I ever saw the golden swimming band. He never told anybody about my dishonesty. I never did get into any further trouble because of my deception. I don’t know if it was because he knew I was going home the next morning, or if he knew that I had become a much more honest person that week.

Now I am all grown up, and I know that my stupidity with the gold wristband nearly cost me my life. Had it not been for a very vigilant lifeguard (the King of the Lake) and the Lord looking after me, I’d not be here today. The point is, I did nothing to help in that situation. As a matter of fact, my actions were the opposite of help. My attempt to fix my swimming problem was a disaster. My respect for water surged to new heights that day. That was not the first time I had to be pulled out of the water, but as far as I can remember, that was the last. I learned my lesson.

Don’t we often make a similar mistake? Have you ever thought, “I’ll handle this problem.”? Or, “This one seems to little to involve God, I’ll take care of it.” Instead of admitting our weaknesses and asking God to help, we take charge, often with disastrous results.

That day, under the cold lake water, I learned that it is wise to admit to our weaknesses. It is OK to acknowledge that there are things we cannot do. It is perfectly acceptable to get help, because we need it!

Some people make a similar mistake. They don’t feel the need to ask for help in getting to heaven. I’ve heard things like, “I’ll try my absolute best to be as good a person as I can be. Then when God looks at me, he will see more of the good things, and not so much bad. I’ll earn my way to heaven.” That is a bigger mistake than my wearing of the Golden Swimming Band. I read in Isaiah 64:6a, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags”. The word ‘righteousnesses’ is talking about the good things we do. When God sees them, they remind Him of filthy rags. He isn’t impressed by our good deeds. It isn’t our good deeds that are causing the problem; it’s our bad ones.

We need help with the wrong, evil things on our record. No amount of ‘goodness’ will cover up that mess. Again, WE NEED HELP. Let’s wear the equivalent of thePink Swimming Band, and admit that we need help to get rid of them. We can’t bring a record with one single evil deed on it into heaven. Let’s face facts, we’ve all got considerably more than one evil deed on our record. We are in trouble. The wisest move is to admit that we can’t fix this problem and ask for heavenly help. He isn’t surprised to hear that we are powerless to clean up our mess. Quite the opposite, he stands ready and waiting to hear our plea for help. He’s made a way to heaven through His sinless Son, Jesus. Jesus willingly died on a cross, not for His wrongdoings but for mine. If you will simply ask Him to, he will cover yours too.

Even as Christians, don’t we sometimes fail to admit to our weaknesses? It isn’t very cool to be known as a weakling. Society applauds those who work hard and succeed. All too often I solve problems with an “I’ll forge ahead, and give it all I have got” attitude. That is the same technique I used when I wore the gold wristband to solve my swimming problem. A much smarter attitude would be, “I admit I don’t have enough of what it takes to solve this problem the right way. God, I need your help.” Sure, pink wristbands at a Boy Scout camp are most unfashionable, but wearing one would have gotten me into much needed swimming lessons, and also have kept me off of any sailboats. Admitting that you need God’s help isn’t going to earn you an interview on 20/20, but it sure beats having to fix the disasters we cause when we are ‘in charge’.

God has given us His name to call upon. When we call Him, He listens and responds. Do you need Him to remove your record of wrongs so you can go into heaven? If you try it on your own, trust me, you will be ‘stopped at the gate’. Call Him. Ask Him. Don’t try and ‘manage’ it on your own.

What about all the other departments of our lives? Shall we manage them and hope they don’t all explode in our face? Or, instead will we try something that works? Will we admit our weakness and inabilities and ask God to help us?

I am still learning this lesson. Let me say that I no longer ‘hate’ my pink swimming bracelet. Neither do I despise admitting that I am not powerful enough to scale my Mount Problem. Slowly, I am learning not to save God’s help as my ‘last resort’. Eventually I hope to be wise and trusting enough to put God as my ‘First Defense’ in all areas of my life.

Be encouraged by:

2Corinthians 12:10, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

And

2Corinthians 12:9, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

Never mind the worldly logic that urges you to be strong and self-sufficient. It is very difficult for God to work with us when we are strong and self-sufficient. Instead, let’s acknowledge our weaknesses and GET HIS HELP!

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