June 15, 2022
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There's no way newscasters could tell her story without somehow using the word "miracle." And that was easy to understand. See, Baby Lily had been trapped in a partly submerged car in Utah's Spanish Fork River. She was 18 months old. She was upside down in her car seat for 14 hours, with the cold water of the river running through that car.
Sadly, Lily's mom, who had been driving, did not survive that accident. And no one knew there was a car in the river until a fisherman spotted it the next day. Thank God, the rescuers he called got there in time. Just in time. Initially, there were no signs of life. But after triage CPR and the efforts of an emergency room staff, Lily started to respond. Now, it's a bittersweet situation. Mom didn't make it. But only days later, Lily was with her dad, singing her nursery rhymes again.
The first responders couldn't stop talking about what they called "the voice." The voice they heard calling 'Help me!' from the car in the river. It couldn't have been Lily's mom. It wasn't Lily. It was an adult voice. Reporters call it "divine intervention." I call it God.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Your Mission Has a Name."
It's something God's been doing for a long time; calling someone He's rescued from spiritual death to rescue someone else. Someone that Jesus died for, and someone who doesn't know or doesn't understand how deeply Jesus loves them. So much that in the Bible's words, "He gave Himself for our sins to rescue us" (Galatians 1:4).
Now as one of His rescued, I am called by God; a voice in my heart calling me to the person who is living and dying ultimately without Christ. I was rescued to rescue. Listen to our word for today from the Word of God in Proverbs 24:11, "rescue those who are being led away to death. Hold back those who are staggering toward slaughter." Or what about Jude 23, "snatch others from the fire..." like someone rescued you. "Snatch others from the fire and save them."
But He won't leave those rescue calls general. No, they're specific. For each of us who belong to Jesus, God wants to put a name in those verses; the name of someone we know. "Save Brian." "Rescue Annie, who's being led away to death."
The voice from heaven has cried "help" to me on behalf of family members He wanted me to help rescue, on behalf of neighbors, people I've worked with in the community. Because God wants each of us who know Him to carry a piece of His heart in our heart; a burden with a name. Someone we care enough about that we want them in heaven with us forever. Someone we pray for by name every day.
Someone for whom we regularly pray the 3-open prayer based on Colossians 4:3 and 4, "Lord, open a door (a natural opportunity) for me to talk to them about a relationship with You." Then, "Lord, open their heart," Then, "Lord, open my mouth!" Got it? "Lord, open a door. Lord, open their heart. Lord, open my mouth." Pray that on a daily basis and watch the amazing opportunities God will open up.
Even if going in for the rescue is hard. Those rescuers who followed the voice to baby Lily had to use all their strength to lift the car she was in. Several were treated for hypothermia. Rescue isn't cheap. Not for Jesus. Not for us.
But a life depends on me responding to the call to jump in. Because I've got to go with a fear greater than what might happen to me if I go in for the rescue. You know what the greater fear is? What might happen to them if I don't.