Sunday, August 26, 2012

Take 5 with Kathy - "Throw out the Life-Line..."


As I finished yesterday reading over the articles I have posted this summer, I was comforted to see the way in which God has been preparing me spiritually, mentally, and emotionally to share with you today. I am learning to throw my dependence upon God on a whole new level and trust Him to “make all things beautiful in His time” as I wrote about a couple weeks ago. Yesterday I was reading a devotional that reminded me that even while Jesus was on this earth, He depended upon God the Father for everything He did, said, and accomplished.[i] Knowing that Jesus, who is God Himself, did this gives me confidence and hope to do the same.

Bedford, Nova Scotia
There are times in life, when people need someone to “throw out a life- line” and rescue them from something or someone. The Lord brought to my mind the old hymn, “Throw out the Life-Line”. It was primarily written to inspire us to be available and active in sharing God’s plan of salvation with those who don’t know Christ, but I believe it also has wider applications. Perhaps you know the words, but I’d like to share them with you:

“Throw out the lifeline across the dark wave,

There is a brother that someone should save;

Somebody’s brother! Oh, who then will dare

To throw out the Life-Line, his peril to share?

Chorus:

Throw out the Life-Line! Throw out the Life-Line!

Someone is drifting away;

Throw out the Life-Line! Throw out the Life-Line!

Someone is sinking today.

Verse 2:

Throw out the Life-Line with hand quick and strong;

Why do you tarry, why linger so long?

See! He is sinking; oh hasten today

And  out with the Life-Boat! Away, then, away!

Verse 3:

Throw out the Life-Line to danger fraught men,

Sinking in anguish where you’ve never been;

Winds of temptation and billows of woe

Will soon hurl them out where the dark waters flow.

Verse 4:

Soon will the season of rescue be o’er,

Soon will they drift to eternity’s shore;

Haste, then, my brother, no time for delay,

But throw out the Life-Line and save them today.”

          - Edward S. Ulford[ii]
Coast guard ship, St. John's, NL

Three very different situations have affected our lives this week. In each instance, they have needed someone to “throw out a life-line” and I praise God that He provided loving and godly people to be present and available when they were desperately needed. It has caused me to wonder how many times I have missed an opportunity to do whatever I could to rescue someone who was facing a time of desperation and didn’t know where to turn for help. I need to pray every day that I will recognize the signs and not ignore them or try to explain them away. I pray He will enable me to obey Him promptly as I may be just the one He has chosen for “such a time as this” (Esther 4:14).

This week I started reading Chuck Swindoll’s book, Esther: A Woman of Strength and Dignity[iii] and am thoroughly enjoying it. If you’re not familiar with her story, I encourage you to read it as it is an amazing portrayal of how God sovereinly directs our lives to accomplish His greater purposes. In her case, God placed her in a position where she could “throw out a life-line” that would be instrumental in rescuing her people, the Jews, from certain annihilation.

I also saw a documentary during the week that showed coverage of people being rescued from disastrous flash-flooding. Life-lines were thrown to them from boats, helicopters, and the shore-line in an attempt to save these individuals from being swept away to their death. As some of them were able to grasp the line and hang on, they were saved and rescued from danger.

Newfoundland trip
If you’re facing a time of uncertainty, despair, and don’t know where to turn, I encourage you to seize the life-line that Jesus is holding out to you. His love for you is infinite, secure, and forever! He is “…close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18). “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3). And as was prophesied of Christ in Isaiah 61:1, God sent Him to “bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release for the prisoners.”

Whatever situation is threatening to hold us captive and drown us in despair, we must cling to Jesus, our Life-Line, and let Him orchestrate our rescue. My thanksgiving and praise goes to Him!









Until next Sunday,

Kathy



[i] My Daily Journey with Christ, August 2012, Charles Price, Living Truth
[ii] http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Throw_Out_the_Lifeline/
[iii] http://www.amazon.com/Esther-Woman-Strength-Dignity-Great/dp/0849913837

2 comments:

  1. Beautiful post Kathy...thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Geneva. Glad you enjoyed it. I just left a comment on your post today too.

    ReplyDelete

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