I wonder why it’s so quiet, thought Walt as he woke up from a fitful sleep. “I know! It has stopped raining,” he said out loud to himself.
For the first time since his helicopter crashed in the lonely wilderness, the rain had stopped. Later that afternoon the sun shone through the branches of the black spruce forest.
It had been seven days since mechanical problems with his helicopter had forced him down in that forest. He was flying from Fort Nelson in British Colombia, Canada, all the way to his home in the southern United States. Now that it wasn’t raining, perhaps pilots in search planes could start looking for him. They knew exactly where he had planned to fly.
The last seven days had been very difficult. In terrible pain from his ribs that had broken in the crash, he had struggled to build a shelter from the burned-out helicopter. He had found a small amount of food, which had been in the helicopter, and a bucket which he was using to catch rainwater.
Walt knew that it would be difficult for anyone to find him. His helicopter’s blades had cut a hole straight down through 40 feet of thick trees as it crashed. The search pilot would have to fly directly over him to see him and his wrecked helicopter. “I must be prepared to signal,” Walt thought. “It’s the only way they’ll see me.”
Walt knew he was in a dangerous situation. He was lost in a huge wilderness with barely enough food to keep him alive a little while. He was injured, and even if he weren’t, the marsh under the trees would not allow him to hike out. He would die if he were not rescued soon.
Walt had a few matches in his coat. Now that it wasn’t raining, he kept a fire going to keep himself warm, and he figured that if he could get enough smoke from his fire, it would help the search planes find him. He collected moss and green branches that he could quickly add to the fire to make it smoke. Sure enough, later that day, he heard a plane! He loaded green things onto his fire to make it smoke. But it was windy, and when the smoke reached the top of the trees, the wind blew it back down. The planes flew by four times, but the pilots did not see the smoke or Walt and his wrecked helicopter.
Then followed six more days of rain and fog that kept the search planes from coming to look for him. Walt was now surviving on wild berries he found and water. He prayed that the rain would stop. He knew that he could not last much longer.
Finally, 14 days after the crash, he heard another plane. He looked up and saw it pass right over him. It circled and came back. Walt waved his arms — there was no time to work on the fire. “I’m alive!” he shouted. “Don’t go away!” The plane dipped its wings to signal that the crew had seen him. Tears streamed down his face as he shouted, “I’m saved! I’m saved!” As the plane continued to circle above him while radioing for a helicopter, Walt lay back and rested.
Fifteen minutes later a large yellow rescue helicopter hovered over him. Two rescue workers were lowered on a cable. They strapped Walt securely in a basket which lifted him into the helicopter. “You’re okay now,” said one of the men. Walt hugged him and hoarsely said, “Thank you! You saved my life!”
Children, what did Walt do to save himself? The answer is: Nothing. He had a crash, and people who cared about him went to all the work of looking for him and saving him. In that way, Walt is like each of us. We are all lost because we all have sinned, and there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Only the One who came down from heaven, the Lord Jesus, can save us. The Bible says that “when we were yet without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)). God loves us very much, and He knew we couldn’t do anything to save ourselves, so He did everything to save us, long ago, through the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross. When the Lord Jesus said, “It is finished” (John 19:3030When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John 19:30)), just before He died, He meant that He had finished everything that needed to be done so we could be saved. I hope you have trusted in Him and the work He finished so long ago!
Messages of God’s Love 12/3/2023