There have been a few news stories lately about folks being lost in rugged parts of our country. This past Thursday, 76 year-old Doris Anderson was found after surviving two weeks in the Oregon woods without having food or even a jacket. She'd gotten separated from her husband when he went for help after breaking his wrist during a hunting trip. When rescuers came to her side, she was barely conscious with a body temperature dipping almost to 90 degrees.
In a way it's not surprising that folks can get lost in vast outdoor wildernesses. One of our great legacies in America has been our vast primitive and unspoiled remote area. From canyons to mountain ranges; from great inland lakes to rocky river rapids; from arid deserts to steamy swamps...adventure and excitement are the companions of risk and danger. So we hear quite often about massive rescue efforts to find those who become lost in those places. Perhaps less obvious is the remarkable truth that people also get lost in the midst of other people. There are deserts and swamps of the human condition just as they exist outdoors. Unfortunately these conditions are not always obvious and those who are sinking or stranded or starving in soulful crises are often lost. Sometimes these folks don't realize their lost condition and sometimes they don't want to face reality. Sometimes they try to save themselves and, wonderfully, sometimes they are saved when the rescue rope of Jesus' trustworthy promise reaches them, they grab hold, and are pulled up and out to safety.
There was a wonderful, apparently miraculous, ending to Doris Anderson's story. Just as the search party had given up hope here's what happened: "He said he and Baker County sheriff's deputy Travis Ash were looking for scavenger birds when they heard, but did not see, a flock of ravens that led them to the woman."
The Lord still reaches the lost, wherever they are, because He commands the ravens and He inspires His saints to be in the rescue party.
Job 26:1 But Job answered and said:
2 “How have you helped him who is without power?
How have you saved the arm that has no strength?
3 How have you counseled one who has no wisdom?
And how have you declared sound advice to many?
blessings,
Rob Smith
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