33 Were Rescued...What About Me?

Psalm 71:20 (NASB): You who have shown me many troubles and distresses but You will revive me again,and will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

I have been enraptured by the plight of the Chilean miners for the 70 days they were in the belly of the earth.  I think it struck a chord with me for several reasons.

1. Modern technology makes it possible to watch events, both positive and negative, unfold *LIVE*.  While I didn't/don't care to watch the War on Terror unfold in front of my eyes...let me tell ya...being able to watch the last miner make his way out of the belly of the earth was nothing short of amazing.  Miraculous.  I bawled like a wee child. 
2. Watching and hearing about the conditions that these men endured were mind-blowing to say the least.  80+ temperatures and humidity.  Near total darkness at all times.  The smell.  Skin fungus and infections.  And supplies were not able to get to them until day 17 was it?  I still can't imagine being THAT hungry and thirsty.  I don't ever want to feel that hot and humid and sweaty and dirty for 70 days.
3. But this leads me to my final point...in my own emotional and spiritual journey...haven't I felt all of these things before?  Hungry?  Thirsty?  Dirty?  In total darkness?  Like I was going to lose my mind?  Yes...yes, I have.  And just like those blessed miners...God has rescued me and brought me to the surface and into the glorious light.  I think that is the thing about this event in history that has impacted me the most.  It was a living, breathing example of a MIRACLE.  It is a miracle that not one of those men died down there.  It is a miracle that they were all rescued, fairly unscathed, after 70 days of a horrid existence.  He too, has rescued me out of darkness...out of feeling so desperate that I thought death seemed better.  Out of feeling so lost and alone.  He has performed miracles in my very life and my goodness, does it take effort to remember His faithfulness.

Remember how they talked about some of the miners seeing a white butterfly 1/2 of a mile into the earth?  It is said that seeing such a living creature at that depth is unheard of.  I think that was God guiding those men to safety as impossible as that seems.  God is the God of the impossible.  Why wouldn't He or why couldn't He use a tiny white butterfly to help those men to safety?  Why would we think that's beyond Him?  And why do I think my current problems are beyond Him?  They are not and never will be.

I am so encouraged by the faith those men had to keep...well...living everyday.  They could have given up to emotional despair.  They could have yielded to the conditions they were in those first 17 days.  Frankly, in despair they could have taken their own lives.  But something or perhaps someone,kept them going.

Watching this event unfold on TV reminded me of God's faithfulness in my life, and how, in the end, He has kept me going.  He has rescued me from despair and darkness.  And I shall rejoice!

Psalm 116:8-9 (NASB): For You have rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I shall walk before the LORD in the land of the living.