God’s Rescue Team

In December 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle reported an incident where a 15-metre-long humpback whale had become entangled in fishing equipment about 30 kilometres off the coast. She struggled to stay afloat, and surface to breathe, with hundreds of metres of crab trap lines and weights wrapped around her entire body, pulling her down and cutting deeply into her blubber. 

A rescue team determined the only way to save her was for a team to dive in and untangle her — a very dangerous proposition. One slap of her enormous tail could kill a rescuer. Undaunted, they worked for hours cutting her free. The person cutting the rope out of her mouth reported that he saw her eye following him the entire time. 

The moment she was freed, she swam in joyous circles. She then came back to each diver, one at a time, and nuzzled him, gently and then swam to the next diver, as if she was thanking each of them personally. The divers all reported it was an incredibly beautiful experience.

There may be deeply wounded and entangled souls in our community who are desperate and near to sinking. Their hurts may be so deep that we sense there could be some danger in approaching them. Where are the brave souls ready to risk the danger and gather a team of rescuers to bring them to joyous freedom? Isn’t this exactly what our Lord has done for us? We have a mandate from Him to do the same for others. A brave team, guided and empowered by our Captain, can accomplish the rescue, and share in the amazing elation of the struggling person’s deliverance. The result will be as beautiful and rewarding as a joy-filled, freed humpback whale!