Andrew Machi and his family were vacationing in Northern California, celebrating his thirty-ninth birthday when he lost his life to a “sneaker wave.” The family had gone to Luffenholtz Beach where Andrew was fishing when a wave came in, sweeping him off the rocks and pulling him out to sea. His wife jumped in to try to help him, but the surf kept pushing her back into the rocks. Even though help arrived by helicopter within ten minutes of being called, it was too late for Mr. Machi. A coroner told the family that he believed Andrew hit his head on the rocks and was knocked out.
The very next day, about 400 miles up the coast on Manzanita Beach, a woman was seriously injured when the log she was sitting on was hit and lifted by a “sneaker wave.” Rescue personnel described her as being “crushed.”
Sneaker waves are deadly, dangerous waves that catch the unwary person off-guard. The surf could be calm with the waves coming up only so far for a good 10 to 20 minutes, and then suddenly, without warning, a wave much larger and stronger than the rest will come crashing in, coming up the beach far higher than the rest. This is where people get caught. The sneaker wave comes in with a pile of sand, gravel and water that fills a person’s clothes and then drags them back out to sea. Then there is the added danger of freezing water temperatures and strong currents, which can kill a person in moments.
This happens to quite a few people, far more than you might think! The National Weather Service states that, “For much of the West Coast, sneaker waves kill more people than all other weather hazards combined.” They go on to say, “Survivors all say the same thing: They thought they were far enough from the surf to be safe. They never saw the wave coming.” They go on to warn, “Never turn your back on the ocean.”
Countless millions of people are just like those who sit on the beach, not paying attention, an easy prey to the “sneaker wave” of death. They go through life busy with work, pleasure and the pursuit of happiness, never giving a thought that one day the God whom they must face will say, “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee” (Luke 12:2020But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? (Luke 12:20)). Why does God use such strong language? Because only a fool would not use the time they had before death to seek and to know God.
Anyone who really wants to can find peace with God. It requires coming to Him His way, and not the way we think is best. God has given us creation so that we can know there IS a God. He has given us the Bible so that we can know HOW to come to Him for forgiveness of our sins and our eternal salvation. He promises that if we truly, earnestly seek Him, we will find Him. “Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:1313And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)).
Time is short. Our lives pass in the blink of an eye, so to speak. Death will claim each one of us; we just don’t know when. If you should die today, are you prepared to meet God? “That if thou [you] shalt confess with thy [your] mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine [your] heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou [you] shalt be saved” (Romans 10:99That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)). Know for certain that your sins are forgiven and that you have made peace with God today!
Some harrowing happenings have happy endings. God Spared Their Lives gives one of them.