John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
I John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”
After the Air Florida Flight 90 crash in Washington DC in 1982, and before anyone knew the name of Arland D. Williams Jr, the newspapers and the magazines of the day were abuzz with thoughts about the unknown hero (see prior post at https://prayatlunch.us/dragged-to-safety/). The Washington Post published the following:
“He was about 50 years old, one of half a dozen survivors clinging to twisted wreckage bobbing in the icy Potomac when the first helicopter arrived. To the copter’s two-man Park Police crew he seemed the most alert. Life vests were dropped, then a flotation ball. The man passed them to the others. On two occasions, the crew recalled last night, he handed away a life line from the hovering machine that could have dragged him to safety. The helicopter crew – who rescued five people, the only persons who survived from the jetliner – lifted a woman to the riverbank, then dragged three more persons across the ice to safety. Then the life line saved a woman who was trying to swim away from the sinking wreckage, and the helicopter pilot, Donald W. Usher, returned to the scene, but the man was gone.”
Time Magazine included the following thoughts:
“So the man in the water had his own natural powers. He could not make ice storms, or freeze the water until it froze the blood. But he could hand life over to a stranger, and that is a power of nature too. The man in the water pitted himself against an implacable, impersonal enemy; he fought it with charity; and he held it to a standoff. He was the best we can do.”
It is often easy to see ourselves as helpless against the powerful forces around us. We see ourselves as weak and sometimes worthless. Yet, the truth is far different than understood through this perspective. We serve a God who gave His life for His friends. Our God is greater than he that is in the world. We carry with us the life and eternity changing potency of the gospel armed with His supernatural power.
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE ENCOURGEMENT AND THE CONVICTION TO SERVE GOD FULLY AND FAITHFULLY IN SPITE OF OUR SURROUNDING CHALLENGES. We may never be in a situation to physically pass a survival rope to those around us, but we have the opportunity to do so metaphorically every day. In the spiritual world, we can do far better than a standoff with our adversary.
