Rescue in Process: Hold On!
Thirty-three Chilean miners are telling an unlikely story. After being
trapped half a mile underground for 69 wretched days, they were brought to the
surface one at a time in a cigar-shaped steel capsule that was only slightly
larger in diameter than a grown man's shoulders are wide.
In a rescue process that combined the efforts of the Chilean government, NASA, a
Pennsylvania drill company, and so many others, an ahead-of-schedule operation
brought the men out in a flawless rescue operation. Each took the 15-minute
journey to freedom from the longest underground entrapment in history.
From the pre-commercialized reports that have emerged so far, it seems clear
that there was an early time of extreme fear and deep discouragement. In the
first 17 days, the men huddled in an area no larger than 165 square feet. They
had no contact with the outside and knew nothing of what was being done above
ground to rescue them.
Reports say that some of the younger men in the group threw themselves on the
ground and refused to get up. They appear to have resigned themselves to death.
Then the first bore hole penetrated their tiny space, and hope soared. Bodies
that had started eating muscle were provided with food, and tainted mine water
was replaced with pure drinking water. Things improved dramatically.
But there was still a long wait to be endured. Even with good food and water,
what about the emotional health of the group?
The men organized to live. Everyone was assigned a job. Nobody was allowed to
isolate himself with his fears. One report of the experience I read contained
this sentence: "They functioned like a family - a mix of love, dependence,
frustration. But there were never thoughts of turning on each other."
Then I thought this: What a microcosm of heaven, earth, and church! And how much
we could learn from the experience.
The "rescue work" we call salvation is going on above. No more than the miners
could know what was happening a half-mile above them, we cannot know all God is
doing for us in our times of weakness, failure, and discouragement. We know of
the cross in history, and we have the promise we will never be forsaken.
The "holding-on work" we do as the church is our task while trapped in the dark
and threatening environment of a world where sin has done its best to trap and
destroy us. No, we can't climb out under our own strength. We wait instead with
all the patience we can muster, keep hope alive, and trust the promise. Refusing
to turn on each other, we encourage one another daily to keep the faith.
As we wait, never doubt that heaven is furiously active on your behalf.
Rubel Shelly GBCIII@aol.com FAX of Life www.rubelshelly.com