Many boys and girls, and some older people too, enjoy going camping in parks where they can enjoy God’s beautiful creation for a few days or even a week. But how would you like to live in a park? Jerry Toops, his wife Lisa and their three children lived in a house in a park in Missouri, where Jerry was the park superintendent. It was a great place to live ... until the early morning of December 14, 2005.
At 5 o’clock that morning, while Lisa was up feeding their baby, she heard a roar that sounded like many jet planes, something she had never heard before in the quiet park. She yelled for Jerry to get the other two children, but within ten seconds a wall of water hit their house. Jerry knew immediately what had happened! The dam, that was only two miles from their house, had ruptured and sent a wall of water thirty feet high into their part of the valley! Their house was destroyed, along with many beautiful trees.
Lisa held tightly to baby Tucker and prayed, “Jesus save us!” as she and the baby were swept outside the house. Then she heard Tanner, who was just five years old, calling her. He had also been swept outside the house in the blast of water. She was able to find him and managed to hang onto both Tucker and Tanner.
When Jerry struggled to the top of the water, he was able to swim to the roof of the house and climbed onto the top. He said, “I knelt down and prayed—I prayed they would be all right.” Jerry knew he was helpless to save his family in the rushing water, but he knew where to turn for help. God tells us, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psalm 50:1515And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. (Psalm 50:15)).
Neither parent had time to find three-year-old Tara, but she made it through the swift water on her own. She remembered the doggie paddle lessons she’d been taught in a backyard pool.
Meanwhile, the rushing water swept Jerry off the roof. He kept grabbing anything he could touch and finally was able to cling to a tree.
What do you think the whole family needed at this point? Not someone to bring them breakfast or a good book! They needed to be saved from the rushing water and to be saved fast! Have you ever thought about your need to be saved, not from a flood but from the lake of fire? God’s Word tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2), “NOW is the accepted time ... NOW is the day of salvation.” The Lord is waiting to hear you call to Him for salvation, just as Lisa called to Him to be saved. He is willing and waiting to save you from your sins right now, making you clean and ready to spend eternity with Him in heaven.
But for this family in immediate danger, they had to wait for help to arrive. About an hour went by before the volunteer firemen arrived to rescue the family. They found Jerry up in the top of a tree; they found Lisa with baby Tucker and Tanner clinging to each other where they had been swept into a field about one half mile from their house. And last of all, they found Tara by herself and whimpering. By then the disaster had left them all so weak that they were not even able to call for help. The firemen were listening for the slightest whimper and were there to answer and save them.
Do you know that the Lord Jesus hears us even before we call? “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:2424And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24)). Have you told the Lord Jesus of your great need to be saved and have your sins washed away? He is always listening and will answer and save you.
Jerry was the first one found and taken to the warm ambulance. He suddenly saw something almost unbelievable! The rescuers were returning with all his family! “You know, I believe in miracles, and I believe this is one!” he said in a trembling voice. They all spent a few days in a hospital recovering from their narrow escapes.
I’m sure Jerry and Lisa often think of the day their lives were saved. Not many people live through a dangerous experience like that! If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you can be thankful for the day you were saved. “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:1515Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. (2 Corinthians 9:15)). If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus as Saviour, NOW is the time to call to Him, or even whisper, and tell Him you know you are a sinner and want Him to save you from your sins.
ML-10/28/2012