Against All Odds — Morning Devotions

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Then the rescuers drilled a 29 ft shaft parallel to the well, and they bought a five ft tunnel through solid rock trying to reach this little girl.

And all the time. The medical people that time were very worried that dehydration and shock would take her life before the rescuers could get her. So this rescue was very intense, very dramatic. It took longer, and the solid rock, plus some equipment failed, meant it took 58 hours before they could reach this little girl, Jessica. They finally bored through reached, but by the time they got there, she was wedged in the pipe. They couldn’t move her and the medical people hooked up to monitors, and they discovered that she didn’t have much time left. The point between life and death was almost there, so they spoke to the medical people and they said, “Well, look, there’s only one thing you can do, you just have to pull hard. If you break something, well, so be it.” They just have to pull. So they pulled. And miraculously, this little girl, Jessica popped free without any serious injuries. It was an amazing rescue, and perhaps you can remember it on TV. Thousands of people watched this on the news, and people prayed for the recovery of this little girl. What actually had happened, of course, was that she was rescued from overwhelming odds.

The odds of life

Now I thought about that story and thinking well, sometimes life’s like that. There are desperate efforts to overcome difficulties, not necessarily falling down a well. But whatever they are, no matter how bad things look and no matter how helpless we feel I want to say today that there is God, you know, that God can make a way. We learn that this God is none other than the God who made the heaven and earth. It’s the God who was Who is the Lord over history.

This is a God who is lord over every cell in my body and yours. He can’t be handcuffed. He’s We use the word omnipotent, powerful, the God who can deliver. He’s on our side, He’s with us. So this awesomeness of grace is their God loves you and me so unconditionally so definitely. And in fact it goes on forever in Jesus that God can make a way. I can think of a song that’s written by a man called Don Moon. And the song says God can make a way when there is no other way. He wrote this on a plane as he travelled to a funeral. His nephew had been killed in a car, and these were the words of the songs that you can still hear today. It’s called God will make a way when there seems to be no way he works in a way we cannot see, he will make a way for me. He’ll be my guide. He’ll hold me closely to his side with love and strength. For each new day he will make a way by a roadway in the wilderness. He’ll lead me and the rivers in the desert. I will see heaven and earth will fade But his word will still remain. He will do something new today. It was the psalmist who said Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you shall glorify me.

The story is told of the only survivor of a wreck who was thrown on an island and he managed to build himself a hut. And what he had he put into this into the hut, you know, had a few things with him. He prayed that God would deliver him and he scanned the horizon. He couldn’t see any ship. And one day when he was out looking for food, he came back and he was horrified to see that the hut he had was gone up in flames. All he could see was smoke. The worst had happened. He’d lost everything.

But what seemed to have happened for the worst was in fact, reality the best because you know it. The next day a ship arrived. “You know, the ship had seen the smoke, the smoke signal,” they said. Well, it’s true, isn’t it that when our hands are in God’s hands, everything works together for good? The Psalmist said “I will be with him in trouble” – talking about God. “I will deliver him and I will honour him.” And they are great words for us to think about today.

Let’s Pray

Well, dear Lord, thank you for the peace that fills our heart. And I pray that you’ll let your praise come from our lips. Thank you, Lord, for the healing that comes and allow our doubts to dissolve in your comfort, amen.

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