A story is told of five young boys in an African war-torn nation. A rebel army sweeps through a coastal village rounding up able bodied boys and girls. The boys are recruited into the army as child soldiers while girls are taken as sex slaves. Five boys escape the ordeal and run toward the ocean. On reaching the shores of the ocean, they realize that the rebel soldiers had taken note of them and they were in hot pursuit. They are caught in between the soldiers and the ocean, however; deep into the sea -about five miles off the shore- sits a safe heaven, an island. Four boys agree that they have got no choice but to surrender. They are sure that it is the only other alternative choice they have besides running along and getting shot dead since the rebel soldiers are only 200 meters away. They get down on their knees and raise their hands in the air. The fifth boy, however, sees one thing that the rest haven’t; a third choice.
“Guys, there is another way out!” he exclaims. “We can swim for that island.” He said pointing towards the island. Despite their difficult circumstance, they manage to find humor in this and they burst into laughter, but to emphasize that it’s not a joke, he doesn’t join them in the laughter. Instead, he pulls down his trouser and steps on it so as to pull his legs out. He then takes off his shirt. Suddenly, the other boys keep quiet and watch in disbelieve as he takes a plunge. “That island is more than four miles away, it’s impossible to swim across” observed one of the boys.” Do you have a death wish?” asked the other boy. Despite their protest, he begins to swim into the sea. The sea waves were heavy and the water too cold. The other four boys whispered to each other earnestly; “he will never make it., he will drown, no! He will turn around when it gets too hard.”
With every stroke, the boy had to fight off the chill and ward off the tide rushing in from the sea. The other boys watched with wide mouths as he disappeared until they could barely make out a tiny spec moving slowly towards the island. By then, the rebel soldiers had arrived and they rounded up the four boys back to the village from where they drove them to a distant camp where they would be trained as soldiers. In the meantime, the boy continued to swim. His muscles ached, his heart pounded but he decided that the water would not defeat him. He bit his tiny arms until they could not beat anymore. Just when he was about to give up he discovered something; the current was moving his direction! He waited for a tide and floated on it. Close to eight hours later, he landed on the island beach. Alive and well, tired but not expired.
The question I ask is, “was he reckless or was he courageous?” The young boy had done one thing that the rest said couldn’t be achieved. He had conquered one thing that the others dared not to try. What other boys thought was impossible he refused to believe as such. His physical strength proved him wrong but his mind was made up. He was not going to become a child soldier. He was later on saved by a Good Samaritan and taken to a good home where he would continue his education. In the meantime, his friends were all killed in the field battle.
How many times have you looked at your challenge and given up before even trying to overcome it. How many times have you abandoned good projects because you thought they were too big for you to handle? Believe in your abilities and the obstacles before you will begin to appear small. Go as far as your strength can carry you then leave the rest to God. He will take care of everything else.
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