The land in the extreme northwest corner of the continental United States exists in almost the same condition as it did long ago. Tall evergreens reach hundreds of feet upwards. Bear, cougar and elk make their homes there. Pacific waves, after traversing the largest ocean in the world, crash onto the beaches and rocky walls of the coast. No roads extend to this remote area.
One morning in August, 2002, a fog had settled over the region. Two sport fishermen had launched their 19-foot boat at Neah Bay, a small fishing village on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. They motored through the Strait and rounded this corner of the United States, entering the Pacific Ocean. While they were passing between the coast and Tatoosh Island, a freak accident happened. The bow of the boat was cutting neatly through the waves when out of the fog a “rogue” wave, several times larger than normal, struck the boat.
The wave curled over and crashed down onto the bow of the boat. The impact forced the bow of the boat steeply down, and the aft of the boat was lifted sharply out of the water. The fisherman in the bow was tossed out of the craft, while the man in the aft only stayed in the boat by clinging to the rails. The boat was swamped with water. Since neither of the men had on life jackets, the man who was still in the boat had the presence of mind to throw a boat cushion to his friend in the water. He then found a buoy for himself before the boat sank.
The water is so intensely cold in this part of the world that in only minutes hypothermia can rob a person of the use of their limbs. The fog, although beginning to thin, made it unlikely that they would be spotted in the water. The current was carrying the two men farther apart. They were in trouble indeed.
Glen Phillips, a retired gentleman, and his partner had just arrived to fish this area. He was getting his equipment ready when he heard a faint sound over the water. Listening closely, he thought it might be a call for help. He asked his partner to listen, but he thought it was only the barking of some distant seal. This didn’t satisfy Glen. He started his engines and the two men headed in the direction he thought the sound was coming from. He motored about four hundred yards and stopped the engines and listened again. This time the cry for help was heard distinctly, and they were able to locate the man clinging to a buoy. They hauled him into the boat where he collapsed. He only had enough strength to mumble “my friend” and pointed in the general direction of his friend. Glen understood that someone else was in the water and searched until they found him too. When they rescued the second man, he was in worse shape than the first. The two were saved by the narrowest of margins. Only a few more minutes in the frigid water and it is likely they would have perished.
“Help!” came the call over the water, and Glen Phillips heard the faint call. There is One who hears every call for help, no matter how faint. He never fails to respond, and this One is God. Have you called to Him? You ought to. He has made you and knows all about you. In fact, He knows you better than you know yourself. He knows what will make you truly happy and knows every pain or sorrow that you feel. Not only does He know you, He loves you. And because of His great love, He sent His Son to Calvary’s cross. It was there that the Person dearest to God’s heart suffered as none ever will. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)).
All sinners need to call on Him, because they are in danger of perishing in their sins. They are in trouble because God is holy, just and good, while the sinner comes up short in all these things. “God is light,” the Bible states, while it also says of sinners, “Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:1919And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)). Because they have loved darkness, they will be consigned to the darkness of a lost eternity as a deserving and just punishment of their sins. This is why it is so important for everyone to call on God. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)).
Don’t let the fog of unbelief keep you from calling on the Lord for salvation. Thousands upon thousands have already called on Him. He has heard each one and never refused any. Don’t be left behind. Call on Him today and receive the salvation He offers you.