In 1976, my squad of soldiers and I were extracted by helicopter from the jungles of Panama while on an exercise near Fort Sherman in the Canal Zone. We were suspended by ropes 120 feet under a chopper using a technique called STABO (STAbalized BOdy Extraction).
There are times in our lives when we need to have a lot of TRUST…..this was one of those times. The option we had was to stay deep in that jungle amid it’s dangers and hazards. We had already been there for a month and it was getting tough. Or……we could trust these pilots as they lowered the rope through the dense canopy of the jungle as they hovered waiting for us to hook up and signal our extraction.
Once in the air, it isn’t exactly easy. If you aren’t careful you can start to twirl out of control and get tangled helplessly in the ropes as the wind hits you while plowing forward hanging underneath this helicopter.
Isn’t life like that sometimes? Chaos is going on around us, we face dangers physically or emotionally every day, the hazards are everywhere. There are times that we need to TRUST in order to be extracted form sin, addiction or the status quo of life going on around us. And the extraction it’self is an ordeal!
It takes TRUST to turn to God! Indeed, it takes TRUST to turn to Jesus! Yes, it takes TRUST to get out of the jungles in our lives. We can’t do it alone. We need God and we need each other!
It’s funny, the jungle was still there afterwards……..and we went back in. We were simply extracted from the dangers we were in at the time…we were given rest to continue on in the mission.
As we TRUST God in His wisdom and apply it to our lives, we are extracted out of many danger’s lurking around us.
2 Corinthians 1:10 (TNIV)
“He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us”
The Israelites were also delivered from the bondage of slavery in Egypt BY God. They were trapped against the sea and God’s powerful hand parted that sea and delivered them from the ensuing Egyptians. Still, how soon they forgot their deliverance. With every turn….. they were fearful, they whined, they felt despair….they abandoned their trust in God. Have you experienced God’s presence and blessing in your life in the past?
At what point do we begin to trust God fully? Two things to think about, if you have experienced God’s deliverance, His blessing, His presence…hold that close! Trust often takes courage. By focusing on God’s faithfulness in the past, we can face crises with confidence rather than fear and complaining.
Exodus 14:10-11 (TNIV)
10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?
May you trust Jesus to extract you from your circumstances to a new life in Him. And…….May you daily REMEMBER His deliverance.