I had my nails done today at a salon I’d never visited before. After a short wait in the lobby I was introduced to Tom, my nail tech. A friendly asian man with a slight build just a few years older than myself. Covered with a mask, apron and gloves I could still tell he had style.
Some introductory chit chat led to a few moments of silence. I noticed pictures of the USS Badger he had hanging on his workstation and asked if he had a family member on that ship. He kept his head down, while he filed away at my nails and after a brief pause he replied, ‘No, that’s the boat that saved me.’
Tom had just turned 14 and was leaving war torn Vietnam with his 15 year old cousin and 125 strangers all hoping for a brighter future. After spending 2 months lost in the South China Sea, Tom’s cousin and about 70 others perished. The survivors were starving and severely dehydrated.
As he shared details and a personal photo of the small boat they were all on, the tears welled up in my eyes. “I’m so glad I asked about these photos. I’m so honored to hear a bit of your story. Thank God you are okay.” I said.
“When you are in the ocean for weeks and never see land in sight, only water as far as you look in any direction, you realize how small you really are” Tom replied.
He divulged a few more gut-wrenching details. Tragic. Unbelievable. Yet what a story. What a heartbreaking yet incredible story.
Tom still meets with the captain of the frigate that found him, every couple years, even though they live on opposite sides of the country. His eyes creased revealing a reassuring smile hidden beneath his mask and I understood what his eyes expressed…gratitude.
I responded in amazement and curiosity, “Will you write a book one day?”
I didn’t wait for him to respond.
“People need to hear stories like this. They give us so much encouragement and hope.” And then truth of the matter spilled out “There’s just nothing like a rescue story.”
On the way home I got to thinking and it hit me. Everyone has a rescue story.
Because everyone has a story with God.
It’s really up to you to accept the rescue or not.
Or to realize you're in the middle of your rescue now.
At what point in your story are you?
Wondering if you got on the right boat?
Are you excited about where you’re headed?
Nervous that conditions are getting treacherous?
Anxious about a plan being diverted?
Lost at sea?
Wishing you could go back?
Still looking for dry land to touch down on?
You’ve got a few hours left in 2023 and although it would be great to say you’re going to magically wake up on January 1st with new circumstances and a new attitude, resolutions, outlooks, plans maybe what we need is a shift in our perspective. The perspective that if you’re still here, and you’re in trouble or feel lost in this world, a rescue is on the horizon.
You think the rescue is hearing that you can leave your circumstance. You think the rescue is getting on the boat. You think the rescue is not having to walk that cursed land anymore. You think the rescue is seeing another boat up ahead. Seeing the dry land. You may think the rescue happened already and maybe it has, yet a greater rescue is on the way. Every plot twist is another opportunity for a rescue.
What I’m hoping for in 2024 is that we persevere. That we don’t lose heart. We don’t lose hope. We have a new outlook on circumstances that we won't be able to leave behind. Yet, we can look behind thanking God for all the ways He’s rescued us in the past and we can look ahead knowing even greater rescues are ahead. If you’re struggling with your current circumstances know that it is a part of your story not the entire story, and the rescue is the plot. That’s where it’s all headed.
Just because the year is over doesn’t mean the story is.
I’m praying that anyone reading this would be a bit more encouraged to hang on and look to better days ahead. I look forward to 2024 with expectation. A year of stories…of healing, of breakthrough, of revelation and answered prayer. Of remembering all that God has done and all that He will do.
Your life is a book. Your story matters. If you let God write the details, it will always include a rescue.
John 21:25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
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