Letters From Grandpa #511

• LETTERS FROM GRANPA
• 511

Dearest grandchild,

Today’s letter will hopefully encourage you to lift your eyes toward heaven and seek help from God. The psalmist said it succinctly: “My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:2) You may not feel the need for God today, but at some point in time you will. Solomon made constant reference in the book of Ecclesiastes to the problems he faced “under the sun”. Hopefully this letter will encourage you to look for answers and help from “above the sun.”

On August 5, 2010 a cave-in occurred at the San Jose copper-gold mine in Northern Chile. 33 men were trapped 2,300 feet under the ground and 3 miles from the entrance to the mine. Obviously these men were powerless to save themselves. Help had to come from above! The rescue effort involved 3 separate drilling teams, virtually every Chilean government ministry, NASA, and a dozen corporations from around the world. On October 13, 2010, 69 days after the cave-in, all 33 men were winched safely to the surface in a specially designed capsule. The rescue cost $20 million and an estimated 5.3 million people witnessed the rescue via world wide television.

On May 26, 2013 the tug boat Jascon-4 capsized in a fierce storm off the coast of Nigeria. There were 12 crew members on board. All of them drowned but Harrison Okene, the ship’s cook. The ship began to sink at 5:00 a.m. Okene awoke, pulled on his boxers, and tried to escape. Unfortunately, all but a couple of doors had been locked to deter pirates. He sought refuge in the officer's cabin, but a wall of water forced him into a near-by toilet. As the boat settled to the ocean floor an air pocket formed enabling the 29 year old Okene to breathe. The water was very cold and with a rope in hand he searched in vain for a way to escape. Each time he was forced to retreat to his precious bubble of air. Later he would confess to “praying a lot”! He also thought of his wife and family. He also wondered how long his air pocket would last? He could hear big fish bumping into parts of the ship and refused to sleep for fear of sharks. 60 hours later he heard more knocking, but this time it was a man. South African diver, Nico van Heerden, was shining a light in search of bodies. Very gently, Okene reached out to van Heerden and tapped his gear, being careful not to startle him.

Even though Okene had been discovered, his ordeal was far from over. Contrary to popular belief, when people are trapped in confined spaces under water, it is often not running out of oxygen that kills them, but breathing their own exhaled breath causing a build-up of CO2. By the time Okene was found, his C02 level was dangerously high and he was near death. His rescuers immediately put down an air hose and blew fresh air over him. Then they carefully transferred him to an oxygen tank mixed with helium. Due to the time he had spent at depth, he needed to do lengthy decompression stops on the way to the surface to avoid the bends. Nitrogen bubbles formed within the body's tissues and bloodstream can prove fatal if you surface too fast. On the surface he was transferred to a pressurized diving bell, and then locked inside a decompression chamber. It took him days to recover.

There is an old joke about the 103 year old woman who was asked for the secret of her longevity. She answered “Just keep breathing.” The sad reality, however, is that everyone wants to keep breathing, but everyone dies. Paul Anderson came to Carthage many years ago with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He was famous for his strength and lifted a platform filled with all the cheer leaders on the football team. He also drove 16 penny nails into a board with his bare hands. In 1957 he earned the title of the World’s Strongest Man by back lifting 6,270 pounds. Sadly, on August 15, 1994 Paul died in Vidalia, Georgia. He was only 61 years old. If the strongest man on earth didn’t have enough strength to keep breathing, that doesn’t leave much hope for the rest of us!

It is hard to imagine anyone so bitter against God that they would rather die than repent of their sins, reach out to God for help, and be saved. Yet the book of Revelation describes exactly such a situation. “The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him. The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness. People gnawed their tongues in agony and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.” (Revelation 16:8-11)

As you reach out to God two problems immediately occur. First, you are probably not as desperate as Harrison Okene trapped on the ocean floor re-breathing your own breath in a tiny bubble of air. Second, you cannot reach out and touch God like Okene could reach out and touch Nico van Heerden. We are saved by faith and not by sight. Remember! “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1) Yet, just because we cannot see Christ in person, does not mean that our faith is not based upon facts. The Apostle John specifically wrote down evidence as a foundation for our faith. He wrote: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31) There is far more historical evidence for Jesus than there is for Julius Caesar!

IT IS TRUE! HELP HAS COME TO US FROM ABOVE! GOD HAS REACHED DOWN TO US BY SENDING JESUS TO OUR RESCUE!

PLEASE DO NOT REJECT HIM!

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce