Monday, May 18, 2015
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Some 16 million people saw Christopher Jones' skydive on YouTube. He bails out of the plane. Everything's going great...until the seizure. After four years of being seizure-free, he was cleared to jump.
But at 9,000 feet, Christopher suddenly rolled onto his back, unconscious. Plunging earthward at 120 miles an hour! Thank God, his instructor Sheldon McFarlane responded immediately. But as Christopher convulsed, he was falling farther out of reach. Finally, McFarlane got close enough to reach his unconscious student; just 4,000 feet from looming disaster below. He pulled his student's ripcord, the chute opened, and in Christopher's words, "He saved my life."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Skydive Seizure - When Someone You Know is Falling Fast."
It was a heart-stopper for sure, and for me it was a solemn reminder. On almost any given week there is someone in my personal world – and probably in yours – who is falling fast, spinning out of control and in need of a rescue. And you're the one who's in a position to catch them if you notice them.
Maybe it's a disturbing post on Facebook, a sudden withdrawing from people, just a troubled countenance, mood swings, some angry outburst. In one form or another, what you're seeing and hearing is a cry for help. The question is, "Is my radar on for a hurting person, for a wounded person, an excluded person, maybe a lonely person, the person with the breaking heart or the broken heart?"
Or am I all wrapped up in my list, my schedule, and my troubles, too self-absorbed to notice someone who's falling within my reach? But noticing isn't enough. Next comes dropping everything to help them, because nothing's more urgent than rescuing the guy who's going down.
Centuries ago, God appeared to an outback shepherd in a burning bush – Moses. You may have heard of him. And God told Moses, in our word for today from the Word of God, Exodus 3, beginning in verse 7, "I have seen the misery of My people in Egypt (where they of course were oppressed slaves)...I have heard them crying out...I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them." Good! Now the shocker for Moses in verse 10, "So now, go. I am sending you" (Exodus 3:7-10).
That might be a conversation God's wanting to have with you - probably minus the burning bush. Because He has heard the cries, even the silent cries of the people around you. And He has a plan to rescue them – you.
It is for rescue that God came to earth; to die on a cross to rescue us from the awful eternal death penalty of our sins, to walk out of His grave to offer us a forever with Him. And He rescues us to then be a rescuer; to tell people His Good News about belonging to Him, to be His voice, to be His face, to be His hands. He wants you to deliver His message. He wants you to be the one who lifts their burden in His name. He wants you to be the one who shows them what He's like. He wants you to be the one who tells them how to be with Him forever by having their sins forgiven at Jesus' cross.
How are you doing? Because that's why you are where you are. God put you there to rescue some folks. Maybe you've never experienced the rescuing power of Jesus and you're falling fast. He has come to swoop down and grab you today. Would you grab that hand, that nail scarred hand and say, "Jesus, I'm yours." Begin to belong to Him today. Be safe finally for now and forever.
You can find out more about how if you just go to our website ANewStory.com. If you've been rescued by Jesus, then you've got to dive in for the rescue of others. It's not optional. Not when someone's falling fast. It's life-or-death.