None of us can ever save himself; we are the instruments of one another’s salvation, and only by the hope that we give to others do we lift ourselves out of the darkness into light. Dean Koontz
The other day I was driving on the interstate and saw
something that broke my heart. In the middle of the busy highway, there was a
small stuffed animal. My mind went where yours probably just did. Some child
has lost that stuffed animal and will be heartbroken when they realize it. I
wished that I had seen it happen, so I could track them down and return the
animal to the proper owner, but there was nothing I could do.
I imagined what it would have been like when my children
were younger. They would have cried their hearts out for days. I probably would
have too.
Imagine you have just gotten off a train. You get your
precious little girl in her stroller, and as you do, her favorite stuffed bunny
falls out and onto the track. Your first instinct is to get it, but you are
warned that another train is coming. You are left with nothing to do but stand
by and watch as your daughter’s favorite stuffed bunny is smashed by the
oncoming train. What do you do? How do you handle it? How will you explain to
the child why you didn’t jump down there and risk your life for her bunny?
We, like the bunny, are a treasured creation to God. He made
us, formed us, and loves us dearly. However, somehow, we always manage to find
some way to wiggle away from Him, like that small stuffed bunny. When we do, we
find that we have no life, no voice, no movement without Him. We are simply
helpless on the tracks as the train that will destroy us moves closer and
closer.
We need to be rescued. We cannot rescue ourselves, because
without our Creator, we have no strength. We lie there in the snare that the
enemy has laid for us, and it seems that there is no hope. Psalm 22:1-2 echoes
those emotions that we feel when we are up against a battle we cannot win. “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so
far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.”
The good news is that God, who knows all and sees all, cares
for us. You see, the illustration I used above really happened. In Boston a mother got off
the train with her little girl. Her bunny fell onto the tracks and the mother
had no idea what to do. However, one of the MBTA workers saw the bunny and
called the oncoming train, which slowed down so the stuffed bunny could be
rescued. The mother was quoted as saying to the Transit Authority, “you really
didn't have to do what you did today, but you have made a little 3-year-old
incredibly happy."
God cares for you. You are His. He will stop everything to
get to you. He did not eve consider His own Son, too high a price to pay for
your rescue. He loves you dearly. Take rest in knowing that the One who gives
you life, the One who loves you more than you can imagine, the One who gave His
life for yours, will be your rescue!
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:14-16)
