Deliverance in Distress

My Dad flew helicopters for 45 years. Half of his career was skipping from oil rig to oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and the other half was zipping from hospital to hospital in Kentucky and Texas. One night while high above the Gulf, his aircraft experienced engine failure. He called “Mayday” over his radio along with his coordinates and splashed into the pitch blackness of the water. Before the waves tipped him over, he bailed out into the dark, inflating his life jacket and realizing no one had confirmed receiving his emergency call. And there he bobbed. The fish nibbled and he wondered how big they were and if nibbling would turn into gnawing. He lost his boots, his watch, and his wedding ring before a rescue light came bouncing over the waves. It felt like hours. He says the hardest part was waiting in the dark and trying to quiet the inner scream, “no one is coming.” 

We all know that voice that seems to get louder in moments of distress. Eugene Peterson says suffering is pain plus: pain plus fear, plus anger and resentment, plus anxiety that no one hears, and help is not on the way. The writer of Psalms 107 is enduring one of those painful moments, but surprisingly is not squinting at the distant horizon for God to ride to the rescue. He quiets the panicked voice and softens the stress by looking backwards. Surely your love endures forever. How does the writer know? Partly because God has loved so well many times before, but when you are half-sinking in the gulf of distress, it is easy to forget. 

So, as he waits for God to deliver THIS time, he keeps his head above water remembering God’s amazing rescues in the past. Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story: He rescued us from foes, lead us from wastelands to secure homes, He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Remember? He did it for others and if we are honest, He has done it for us. He will do it again because He is faithful, and His love endures forever. 

With gratitude and an honest memory, desperate wishing turns to living hope. The word “hope” is derived from the same English word as “help.” You can still find folks in the Appalachians who ask, “Can you hope me out?” God does hope us out by reminding of His help in the past. We will add our stories to Psalm 107 where the rescued shout, we cried out to the Lord in our trouble, and He delivered us from our distress. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! 

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Lord Jesus, enable me to hope in You even when life looks bleak, when waters rise, and my view of You is clouded. Be my strength and my peace, and may I remember all the ways You have rescued. Thank you for delivering me from my distress. Amen.