Be not afraid – I will rescue you. I have called you by name – you are mine. Isaiah 43:1
I followed the story of the youth soccer team trapped in the cave in Malaysia with great interest and many prayers. It was an incredible rescue, and an amazing feat that no lives were lost. I know that one of the boys was a Christian, and that he was the one who spoke English as well. The community that awaited him prayed religiously for his rescue and return. These boys relied on skilled professionals and on God. They couldn’t take control of the situation – only trust others for their rescue.
Contrast this serious situation with my grandson, Reese. During a recent vacation with his family, he was in the resort pool with a lifeguard present who was trained to rush to the rescue of swimmers in need. Reese is an excellent swimmer, on the swim team, and pretty much a fish in the water. On this day, however, he thought it would be fun to fake a drowning to see what it felt like to be rescued.
He began to thrash about and go under in the water only to emerge and thrash some more. The lifeguard did indeed rescue him, and as he was preparing to pull him to safety, Reese looked up and confidently said, “Thanks, but I’ve got this”, and swam away. Needless to say, there were consequences for this trick – I heard that security was involved.
Our most desperate moments can lead us to complete faith in and reliance on God. We pray to Him, call on Him, and ask Him to rescue us. When He answers our prayers and begins the rescue process, we can respond with complete trust and faith, or we can be decide not to accept the rescue and answer, “Thanks, but I’ve got this.”
Jesus rescued us all by dying on the cross. We’d do well to accept the life preserver He offers.