He has spent endless hours in the ocean, with just flippers, a mask, snorkel, a small float and a spear gun. A true man vs wild experience.
Spearfisherman have been known to dive 30 metres unaided by air tanks. They are at risk of currents, shallow water blackouts, exposure, being lost at sea and - ocean predators.
One morning Mark was spearfishing down the south coast of New South Wales Australia. The conditions were clear, the fish were plentiful and he had many hours to explore and hunt the ocean reefs.
Then the strangest thing happened. A man of great courage and years of experience in the water was overcome by an unknown fear.
"It wasn't like there was anything to be fearful of. I was cruising over a kelp bed when something told me to get out of the water - almost like a voice. I ignored it, and then as it became more powerful, I fought it. I fought it with everything in my body. But then the fear became a force. There were no currents and yet all of a sudden I was being pushed and directed toward shore, no matter what I did, I found myself being forced toward a rock ledge near the shore, while the sense of getting out of the water became overwhelming. In twenty years I had never known fear in the water, and yet this day I found myself getting out of the water with a certain knowledge that I must stay out. Only minutes earlier I had been five hundred metres off shore and now I am staring at the ocean, with nothing apparently wrong. I looked at my watch and took note of the time".
The next day I was talking to a mate who had been fishing the coast that week. He shared with me an incredible encounter.
"Yesterday we were fishing at spot X, and all of a sudden, this great white shark (White Pointer like in Jaws) popped up next to the boat. The fin on this thing was about four feet tall, the shark must have been close to twenty feet long, by far the biggest shark I have ever seen".
"What time was that"? Mark asked.
"About 12.30pm. It was headed toward the reef you guys always spearfish".
Mark thought about it. They saw the great white at 12.30pm. Ten minutes later it would have been swimming along the reef Mark was spearfishing at.. the same reef at 12.40pm he was 'forced' out of the water by an unseen force.
"And let me tell you, a shark that big, and I'm in it's path, alone - I would have just been reported as a missing person, no-one would ever know what happened".
Coincidence? Maybe. But why does an experienced waterman drop his bundle at exactly the same time Jaws was meant to pass by without knowing it.
Have you ever had a feeling that seemed to make no sense at all but later realised saved your life?
Next week, we'll find out what happened when a father had a feeling that he must leave a business meeting in the city immediately to see his son at home - and what he found when he arrived.
Until then, may the Lord bless and keep you,
Pastor Baz.
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