It was October of 1942, and an airplane on war business had run out of fuel and was forced to crash into the ocean. The men on board were able to get out alive, and soon, in three small rubber rafts, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker and his crew of seven men were drifting at the mercy of the winds and tides in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Their navigation equipment had not worked correctly, and they had run out of gas looking for somewhere to refuel. I’m sure that in the heart of each man were the same questions: Will we ever make it out of here alive? Will we be rescued? Or will we die?
For 24 days the men suffered terribly from the burning sun, with no way to hide from its heat. From the start they were horribly thirsty, without any water but what they could collect from occasional rain. Sharks rammed into their small rafts. Four oranges was all the food they had rescued from the plane. Early on they had shot off all their emergency flares and had gotten no response. Most of them quickly became very depressed.
ENCOURAGEMENT
Though he wasn’t depressed himself, Captain Rickenbacker realized they needed help, and he suggested they have a prayer meeting. John Bartek was one of the crewmembers, and he had managed to keep his little New Testament when they abandoned the sinking plane. He pulled it out and read some verses. Then Captain Rickenbacker told each of the men to read some verses, which they did, willingly or unwillingly. Verses from Matthew 6 were the ones most chosen: “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? ... for your heavenly Father [knows] that [you] have need of all these things” (Matthew 6:31-3231Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (Matthew 6:31‑32)). Those verses — if they believed them — must have sounded very comforting to those men in their dire circumstances.
James Whittaker, the copilot, did not want to have a prayer meeting. He did not believe God could save them. He said it would take an absolute miracle! But those who read the Bible know that God does do miracles. John Bartek no doubt knew the stories about Daniel in the lion’s den, the Lord Jesus feeding people with just a few loaves and fishes, and all the other miracles in the Bible.
On the eighth day, Rickenbacker passed out the last of the oranges. He then started another prayer session. Later that day, as he sat in the raft with his hat pulled down over his eyes, something like a miracle happened. A sea gull landed on Rickenbacker’s hat. He made a quick move and grabbed the bird. The starving men ate it and used the intestines of the sea gull as bait to catch fish ... and kept being able to catch fish using parts of the fish they caught. Almost the whole crew lived to tell the amazing story.
GOD’S GOODNESS
God created us, and He loves us. He works in many different ways to draw people to Himself. We are rebellious and, like sheep, we’ve all “gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way” (Isaiah 53:66All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)). Is God speaking to you in your life? Has He given you some difficult situation to make you call on Him? Sometimes He brings us to impossible situations so that we will realize we need help outside of ourselves — God’s help.
The Bible, God’s Word, “is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105105NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)). When we read it, our faith in God becomes stronger. Psalm 19:1010More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. (Psalm 19:10) says God’s words are to be desired more than gold. Do you believe it? If you could have a million dollars or a Bible, do you realize that the Bible is the far greater treasure?
Are you trusting in God, with whom all things are possible?