Gravity and Grace: Hearing God in Uncertain Times

Two brothers break through the ice at Sheridan Lake, South Dakota. During the search for the missing younger boy, rescue diving instructor David Burnell enters freezing water beneath a thick layer of ice. Then his regulator freezes and the situation deteriorates. With the mission unfinished, he receives an unmistakable spiritual prompting to get out. Gravity and Grace recounts the conflict between the drive to keep searching and the responsibility to heed the voice of the Holy Ghost. This true story is a moving reflection on revelation, obedience, and the grace that meets us in uncertainty.

Under the ice, the situation allowed little margin for error. Burnell wanted to finish the search, and the pressure to continue was real. His equipment problems created danger, but it was the repeated prompting to leave the water that made the decision a spiritual struggle as well as a rescue decision. He knew what duty seemed to require. He also knew what he had been told.

Told without trying to turn tragedy into an easy lesson, this account examines the meaning of personal revelation, obedience, and faith when the outcome is painful. It is particularly meaningful for readers who have wondered whether listening to God might sometimes require abandoning the plan they were certain was right. The courage in this story lies not only in entering the water, but in knowing when to come out.

The Stories That Stay: Short Reads. Lasting Lessons.

Available formats: Downloadable EPUB eBook or MP3 audiobook. This is a digital product, not a physical book.