On Thin Ice

Two fishermen fell through the ice on Lake Pend Oreille last week. Lucky for them the water was only waist deep and a rescue team helped them. Walking around on ice can be dangerous depending on the temperatures, currents, and under water springs. We are in a deep freeze so the lakes will add good ice, but people need to let it get thick enough before venturing out too far. I have had some unexpected cold water baptisms in the winter and a person can develop hypothermia very quickly. I fell in at eighteen below zero and had to walk a half mile to the truck. By the time I got there my fingers refused to work so I could not open the truck door. A coworker started the truck and got the heater going full blast so I slowly thawed out enough to drive home and jumped into a hot tub of water.

In Iowa we would often drive vehicles out on the lakes when the ice got two feet thick. One day a friend and I drove my car out to a fish house we had on a large lake. Fishing was pretty good so we decided to stay after dark and fish for walleye. Later we went to leave and discovered a dense fog had moved in but we were sure finding right spot to get off the lake wouldn't be too hard. Wrong! We drove around and around until some headlights appeared through the dense fog. That guy was also lost but was sure he had figured out where the exit spot was. We decided to follow him and finally got off the lake. We were very relieved to be off the lake as there was a stretch of open water not too far from where we entered the lake due to a rock point that jutted into the lake.

There are times we walk on thin spiritual ice when ignoring God . Going our own way until we fall through and then we holler for God to rescue us. God wants us to walk with him so He can help and direct us around the thin ice. Remember even Peter could walk on water as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. When he panicked and started to sink, Jesus held out his hand and pulled Peter back up with him. Jesus will do the same thing for us. But if we keep our eyes on Jesus we don't have to worry about thin ice