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I was 23 and had just gone for a walk

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

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'I was 23 and had just gone for a walk. I got caught out by the tides. The tidal differences here can vary by 11 or 12 metres. The tide was coming in and I was marooned on a rock a mile out at sea. I had been in and out of the water a long time. I was getting cold and I was swallowing water.

I thought I was going to die. I thought I would never see my family again and that my body would never be found. Some verses from Psalm 139 came to me, ‘Where can I go from your spirit?... If I rise on the wings of dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.’

When the water rose, there was that sense of the promise of the hands holding me. Knowing I would never see my family, that line came through. At the extremities of life, the Scriptures have a power to engage in a wonderful way.

Someone heard my cry of help and got the inshore craft to me. I jumped in and had my life back. It caused me to think more about obedience and about what I would do with the rest of my life. It was pivotal in offering for ministry. That’s led me here, 27 years later, doing this crazy job [as a vicar].'

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