A customer named Don came into my auto shop to get an estimate to repair his car. A week later when he came back, I noticed that he was very quiet. Something had happened to him, and he told me the following story.
“Last Sunday morning I wanted to go for a boat ride. I told my wife that I was going to be on Lake Washington. I said good-bye to her and drove to where I kept my boat. It was such a beautiful day that I decided to go out through the locks into Puget Sound. I had filled the tanks with gas, so I knew I had enough fuel to last all day. I was having a good time, enjoying the sunshine and the breeze, until suddenly in the middle of the afternoon the engine stopped. What could be wrong? I looked in the gas tank and found that it was totally empty! Where had all the gas gone? I still don’t know and I can’t explain it.
“Now what? I wondered. There were many other boats around. Surely someone would be able to help me. I waved and called and waited. But nobody answered or even saw me.
“Evening was coming on and I was drifting northward, and still no one helped me. I blinked my little flashlight over and over with the SOS distress code, but no other boats answered my call for help. Now I was becoming scared.
“Nobody knew where I was, because I had told my wife I was going to be on Lake Washington. She wouldn’t think of telling anyone to look for me in Puget Sound.
“Night had come, and the wind was pushing me farther and farther out towards the open ocean. No one would ever find me there. I thought about my wife and family. I thought about my sins. I thought about God. I thought about leaving this world in a watery grave. I was afraid, and I started to pray.
“That night God was searching my soul. I drifted in the dark, hour after hour, feeling the waves and seeing nothing. Finally the morning light came, but the sun was dimmed by a mist. My chance of being seen and rescued seemed hopeless. I cried to God, ‘Have mercy on me.’
“It was the second day. I prayed and again thought over my life, because I thought I would soon meet God. I drifted, far from land with no boats in sight. Afternoon came, and finally I saw a small ship. I signaled with my flashlight, SOS, SOS, SOS. The ship continued on its course . . . and my heart sank.
“As I watched the ship, at last I saw it make a turn toward me. They had seen my call for help! They picked me up and pulled my boat into Port Angeles, a safe harbor.
“I called my wife and told her I was safe. I also told God that I was thankful that He had saved me from a watery grave. I wasn’t a believer in God when I went out, but I am now.”
Don’s story brings Psalm 107:2331 to my mind: “They that go down to the sea in ships . . . these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. . . . He . . . raiseth the stormy wind. . . . Their soul is melted because of trouble. They . . . are at their wit’s end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. . . . Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!”
Don was saved from a life-threatening emergency, but I must ask the question, “Did he ever accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour?” God is the Saviour of all men in many ways. Don was saved from death in the ocean, but to be saved for heaven he must accept the Lord Jesus as his very own Saviour. I hope his belief in God is not just for answering his prayer for help, but for eternal salvation by believing that the Lord Jesus suffered and died for his sins. This is the only way Don can know that his sins are forgiven and that he is on his way to heaven.
ML-12/11/2005