You were hungry and thirsty and about to give up. You were in serious trouble, but you prayed to the LORD, and he rescued you. Right away he brought you to a town. You should praise the LORD for his love and for the wonderful things he does for all of us.
To everyone who is thirsty, he gives something to drink; to everyone who is hungry, he gives good things to eat. Some of you were prisoners suffering in deepest darkness and bound by chains, because you had rebelled against God Most High and refused his advice.
You were worn out from working like slaves, and no one came to help. You were in serious trouble, but you prayed to the LORD, and he rescued you. He brought you out of the deepest darkness and broke your chains. You should praise the LORD for his love and for the wonderful things he does for all of us.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
On August 5th, 12-year-old Charles “Dale” Ostrander was swimming off the coast of Washington state, just north of Long Beach. Dale was with a church group, swimming in the Pacific Ocean, when a riptide current pulled him under and began to sweep him out to sea. A 12-year-old girl with a surfboard tried to rescue Dale, but the current was too swift. When she made it to shore, she clung to the sand and said, “He’s dead. What am I supposed to do?” More rescuers retrieved Dale’s body from the waters, where he had been pulled underwater for 20-25 minutes. He was unconscious and limp. Nobody gave Dale much hope for survival. Dale’s fellow church members fell to their knees on the beach and prayed for him
In a blog established to chronicle this story – www.prayersfordale.blogspot.com – a post dated August 14th describes how Dale’s father, Chad, spoke to the congregation at church several days later:
- “Brother Ostrander said, ‘We didn't understand, we just accepted. I knelt by his bed and put Dale on the altar, like Abraham. I told God, “You offered your son, you know how it feels. Thank you for letting us say goodbye.” We tried to let the girls know that he wasn't coming back. That night, the doctor knelt down right by Dale's ear and said, “Dale, open your eyes!” and his eyes opened! We thought, “Wow, there's hope!”’
- Today Dale got up and walked down the hall with help from the physical therapist. In Chad Ostrander's words: ‘God has shown us a miracle.’"
Some of us are in some pretty strong currents, too. We have our own “riptides” pulling us under, and we are drowning a little every day. Others among us have “circled the drain” from time to time…yet God rescued us. Did we stop to thank Him? Did we even recognize His powerful hands reaching down and saving us?
Do we understand that we are often suffering under the chains and riptides of our own making… and God stands ready to save us, if only we will ask? Truly, the rescue of this 12-year-old boy is a miracle… and not all horrific events like this come to such a happy end. But so often, we fail to recognize that a rescue from our troubles is only a prayer away. We fail to see that we can ask God for anything… and He will answer perfectly. And often if we do ask, we fail to believe that God really heard us… and that help truly is on the way.
Clearly this boy’s parents prayed faithfully… trusting God for a perfect outcome. They didn’t know if that would mean life for their son on this earth – or in heaven. But they prayed and believed anyway, as did the fellow church members who were with Dale Ostrander on August 5th. The question for us is… are we praying faithfully and believing God will deliver a perfect outcome? Are we thanking Him for all of the times He has rescued us already… and trusting Him to be our lifeline in the future? Isn’t it about time we stuck out our hand and let God pull us safely to shore, so to speak? Are you ready for a rescue?
©2011 Debbie Robus
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