Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Rescue

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.  A psalm of David.

What if the Lord had not been on our side?  Let all Israel repeat:
What if the
Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us?  They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger.  The waters would have engulfed us; a torrent would have overwhelmed us.  Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.  Praise the Lord, who did not let their teeth tear us apart!  We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap.  The trap is broken, and we are free!  Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.  Psalm 124:1-8

Steven Spielberg made multiple billions with the narrow rescue theme.  Indiana Jones is a prime example.  The Archaeologist/Adventurer is in search of yet another priceless relic.  Jones’ archenemy, the greedy bad guy takes evil pleasure in the thought of grabbing the prize first AND eliminating his competition.  Dr. Jones is beaten, bound, and thrown into a snake pit (snakes; snakes; why did it have to be snakes?) With the bad guy looking down on the vanquished Dr. Jones, he smiles and seals the entrance.  But, in just a few minutes, jumping heroically from one crumbling rock formation to another, Indiana narrowly escapes for the 1,282nd time in fourteen minutes; it’s a new record, and totally believable (wink, wink).
Most of the action and adventure movies ever made ought to have Psalm 124 as a footnote on their scripts. 
As entertaining as escapism is, (pardon the pun), it works against living in reality.  Super-powers aside, like the invincibility of characters in a video game where you kill fifty attackers per minute, and if they get you before you get to the next level, you just boot-up and go again – well, pardon my cynicism, but where was Indiana Jones on September 11, 2001?  Why are there untold millions of war-dead lying in graves, along with millions more – victims of earthquakes, storms, terrorists and other, deranged and deluded aggressors, prodded by evil to bring pain, heartache, destruction and loss?
And yet, there are those inscrutable rescues which do occur.  I believe everyone gets at least a few in a lifetime.  There’s that familiar close call on the Interstate, where you thought you weren’t going to make it.  Or that time you lost control in the snow or rain.  That time you thought you were going to get fired, and the reason the boss called you in was to tell you about your new raise or promotion.  And what about that ominous message the doctor’s office left to please call back the minute you get this message? 
David knew exactly how you felt at those times.  King Saul was once David’s friend and benefactor; now he was the pursuing enemy.  King Saul, had hounded David out of Jerusalem, chased him so ferociously he had to hide out with the wild animals in caves.  And by the skin of his teeth, David was rescued, and wound-up on King Saul’s throne. 
So, what’s the connection with Indiana Jones here?  Drama…evil lurking in the background…certain destruction looming like Mt. Everest dead ahead.  But the difference between a Harrison Ford movie and the chronicles of David, King of Israel, is that which happened after the drama.  For Indiana Jones the credits rolled on the screen, and the movie faded to black; everyone left the theatre!   
But David didn’t just survive; David’s survival and the remainder of his life were spent remembering God’s great preservation of life.  It was spent exploring the truth of God’s way as opposed to fairy tales.  He spent his days living his life in thanks to the God Who had saved him and granted him real life in an eternal kingdom!
For You Today
There are times when we all forget what God has done for us.  And we also forget the untold numbers of times God has preserved us when we didn’t even know it.  The word today is  don’t forget…continue to remember and be thankful! 
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com     Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

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