OVERCOMER

Micah 7:7–8 NKJV

Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; My God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me.

Tham Luang cave rescue In June and July 2018, a junior association football team and their assistant coach were rescued from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand. Twelve members of the team, aged 11 to 16, and their 25-year-old assistant coach entered the cave on 23 June after a football practice session. Shortly thereafter, heavy rainfall partially flooded the cave system, blocking their way out, and trapping them deep within.

It didn’t take long for the media to pick up on this massive rescue endeavor, and for the following weeks the world silently watched, prayed, and helped. In fact this quickly became one of the largest joint rescues in history.

I. Duties of those in need.

A. We must look.

Assistant coach, Ekkaphon Chanthawong, and the boys went missing after setting out to explore the cave. According to early news reports, they planned to have a birthday party in the cave after the football practice, and spent a significant sum of money on food, but they denied this in a news conference after the rescue.[16] The team was stranded in the tunnels by sudden and continuous rainfall after they had entered the cave.[17] They had to leave some food supplies behind when fleeing the rising water.

Around 7 p.m., head coach Nopparat Kanthawong checked his phone, finding about twenty missed calls from parents worried that their children had not come home. Nopparat dialed assistant coach Chanthawong and a number of the boys in quick succession, without success. Eventually, he reached Songpon Kanthawong, a 13-year-old member of the team who mentioned he was picked up after practice, and that the rest of the boys had gone exploring in the Tham Luang caves. The coach raced up to the caves, finding abandoned bicycles and bags near the entrance, with water seeping out of the muddy pathway.

Numbers 21:7–8 NKJV

Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”

The divers began the treacherous task of searching for the boys. After diving through miles of pitch black water, and swimming against strong currents, they finally reached the cave the boys where in. At first the stench was so strong that the divers were convinced they where smelling decomposing bodies. However, soon the soccer team appeared in their lights. In the video footage you can hear the diver saying believe. later he clarified that he was not saying this for the youth but rather for himself. They search had paid off, the boys were found.

Deuteronomy 4:29 NKJV

But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

B. We must wait.

For the next 17 days, rescuers attempted to locate the boys and develop a plan that would work in the dangerous environment. The rescue effort involved more than 10,000 people, including more than 100 divers, scores of rescue workers, representatives from about 100 governmental agencies, 900 police officers, and 2,000 soldiers. Ten police helicopters, seven ambulances, more than 700 diving cylinders, and more than a billion litres of water (the equivalent of 400 Olympic-size swimming pools) was removed.

During this time all thirteen individuals could do nothing more than wait. They had no working phone, they had ditched their rations while trying to attempt to escape, and they had no possible route to travel. Waiting was their biggest enemy. Yet, when the divers found them the story was told that they were in remarkably good spirits.

Psalm 27:14 NKJV

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

There are many times in life where waiting on God is the most arduous of task. Yet, we are commanded to wait, patiently, and with faith.

II. Promise for those who seek God.

A. We will be heard.

B. We will arise.

C. The Lord will be our light.

When the divers first left the boys they left them with two things, hope and flashlights. Although this was just a sliver of light in a dark cavern it represented the hope that soon they would see the son.

Between 8 and 10 July, all 12 boys and their coach were rescued from the cave by an international team.

The news article read, “After nine days in darkness, the Wild Boars once again saw light.” I know that somedays it may seem like there is no light in your life. There may be moments and trials you may face where you seem all along. However, Hebrews tells us,

John 8:12 NKJV

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Hebrews 4:15 KJV 1900

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Saman Kunan, a 37-year-old former Royal Thai Navy SEAL, died of asphyxiation during an attempted rescue on 6 July while returning to a staging base in the cave after delivering diving cylinders to the trapped group. The following year, in December 2019, rescue diver and Thai Navy SEAL Beirut Pakbara died of a blood infection contracted during the operation.

This is a reminder that sometimes rescue requires sacrifice. To our first responders, I want to say, “Thank you.” Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for your willingness to serve and go where we can not and do what we will not. Thank you.

Most of all I want to say, “Thank you” to Jesus. He is the one who laid down his life for me. He is the one who gave his all so that I may experience the power of life.

John 15:13 NKJV

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

We can be overcomers, because He overcame. Our victory is found at the feet of Jesus.