2024-04-24 TWW-Help from God

Calls for Help Lead to Rescue of Sailors The Wired Word for the Week of April 21, 2024

In the News

On March 31, Easter Sunday, three experienced mariners set sail from Polowat Atoll in a 20-foot open skiff equipped with an outboard motor. Their plan was to do some fishing around Pikelot Atoll, an uninhabited coral island approximately 100 nautical miles to the southwest. Before the day was over, the sailors encountered swells and submerged sandbars that damaged their small boat, stranding them on Pikelot. Before the men could call for help, their radio battery ran out of power.

On April 6, a woman called Joint Rescue Sub-Center (JRSC) Guam to report that her three uncles, all in their 40s, had not been heard from for a week, and had failed to return on schedule from their outing.

JRSC Guam, under the auspices of the U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam, immediately launched a search and rescue operation, mobilizing a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon reconnaissance jet from Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa, Japan, and the 154-foot fast response U.S. Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Oliver Henry to search over 103,000 square miles.

The next day, the Navy aircraft crew spotted the word "HELP" spelled out with palm branches on the white-sand beach of Pikelot, and dispatched survival packages to tide the mariners over until further assistance could be delivered.

On April 8, a U.S. Coast Guard HC-130J Hercules surveillance aircraft from Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii dropped a radio down so the marooned men could establish communication. The trio indicated that they were well, had survived on coconut meat and freshwater from a small well on the island, and had recovered their skiff, which needed repair before it would be seaworthy again. They requested assistance so that they could return to Polowat.

USCGC Oliver Henry collected the castaways, whose names have not been released by the Coast Guard, and their equipment, on April 9.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Eugene Halishlius, a Micronesian, was one of the first rescuers to greet the fishermen, who were surprised to hear him speak to them in the local language. When they introduced themselves, they discovered that they are related. One is a third cousin to the petty officer, the other two are fourth cousins. Halishlius said, "It's a crazy world!" The rescuees marveled that one of their own relatives had been part of the operation to find them and bring them home.

Lt. Chelsea Garcia, the search and rescue mission coordinator that day, called the mariners' actions "a remarkable testament to their will to be found" and "a crucial factor … pivotal in guiding rescue efforts directly to their location."

She also commended "the effective coordination and partnership between the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy, and regional partners."

"This recent operation near Pikelot Atoll hits home the kind of difference we can make. It's about more than just performing a duty; it's about the real human connections we forge and the lives we touch," said Lt. Ray Cerrato, commanding officer of USCGC Oliver Henry. "Every day, I'm reminded of the impact we have and the bonds we build. It's incredibly rewarding to see the faces of those we've helped. Here on Oliver Henry, we're not just a crew; we're part of the heartbeat of the Pacific, and I couldn't be prouder of the work we do."

Polowat and Pikelot atolls are two of the more than 600 islands in the archipelago that makes up the Federated States of Micronesia, located between the Philippines and Hawaii, scattered across about 965,000 million square miles of the Pacific Ocean.

This incident marks the second time in less than four years that sailors have been rescued from the tiny island of Pikelot. In July 2020, three other mariners washed ashore there after they sailed off course and their skiff ran out of gas. They spelled out "SOS" (an internationally recognized call for help) on the beach, which helped members of the search and rescue team locate them. The men had been missing for three days before they were discovered and safely returned to their home.

Applying the News Story

The Bible contains many claims that God is a source of help. Consider these examples:

Imagine you're hiking up a steep mountain and feeling exhausted. Suddenly, you come across a hidden spring that quenches your thirst and gives you the strength to continue. That's God's help - unexpected, refreshing, and sustaining!

When life's difficulties felt like a storm raging around me, God's help was like a lighthouse guiding me through the turmoil, keeping me from crashing into the rocks of despair.

When the patriarch Jacob knew that the time of His death was drawing near, he called his sons around him to bless them. In his remarks, he referred to "the God of your father, who will help you" (Genesis 49:25).

At a time when people often named their children to reflect their own experience, Moses named his second son Eliezar, which means, "My God helps" (Exodus 18:4). Exodus 18:4

The psalmist declared, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1) and "surely, God is my helper" (Psalm 54:4). Psalm 54:4

After the apostle Paul was arrested, he came before King Agrippa to defend himself. Though people who disagreed with his message had threatened him, he told the king, "To this day I have had help from God" (Acts 26:22). Paul also wrote to Timothy, "What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them" 2 Timothy 3:11 and "the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and save me for his heavenly kingdom" (2 Timothy 4:17-18).

Knowing that Paul and other people of God have suffered many afflictions prompts us to ask what is the nature of God's help and rescue? What does the psalmist mean when he declares, "When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and rescues them from all their troubles. … Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD rescues them from them all" (Psalm 34:17, 19)? Clearly if the righteous experience many afflictions, it can't mean that the righteous live a trouble-free life.

Some of the ways God helped the people are described as miracles, such as the opening of the Red Sea to let the Israelites pass before submerging the pursuing Egyptian army, or Jesus' raising of Lazarus back to life. Those might be categorized as helping solve problems through supernatural intervention.

But our awareness of such astonishing miraculous resolutions to problems might lead us to overlook some other ways the help of the Lord comes to us. There's been a story floating around in several versions recently, but the essence of it goes like this:

There was a terrible rainstorm in Tennessee, and the rivers started to rise. One resident was forced to go up on his rooftop. A man came by in a boat and said, "Get in!" But the man refused the help.

"I have faith in God," he said, "and he will grant me a miracle." Later, the water was up to his waist, and another boater came by and offered to rescue him. But again, he refused, holding out for a miracle. When the water was chest high, he turned down yet another offer, so the first responders went on to rescue someone else.

Finally, a helicopter crew spotted the man, with the water up to his chin. The crew lowered a ladder for him to climb up. But with water in his mouth, he mumbled that he was waiting for a miracle and waved the helicopter away. Moments later, he drowned.

So the man arrived at the gates of heaven with broken faith and complained to St. Peter, "I thought God would grant me a miracle, but he let me down!"

St. Peter replied, "I don't know what you're griping about. We sent you three boats and a helicopter."

Sometimes when we ask God for his help, we may get an instant resolution of our problem. But other times we receive new wisdom, perspective, strength or skills to handle our problem.

The reality is that when we call on the name of the Lord, his help generally does not mean an immediate fix of the problem or a once-for-all disposal of pain. But God helps us by assuring us of his comforting presence, support and guidance through every situation we face, so that we come to know and trust that God is with us, loving us, whatever happens.

The Big Questions

1. Share about a time when you experienced God's help.

2. What might lead people to resist asking for help when they really need it?

3. How can we strike an appropriate balance between self-sufficiency and interdependence on others?

4. What do you do when your prayers seem to hit a wall and you feel disconnected from God?

5. What motivates you to intercede for other people who need help?

Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:

2 Corinthians 1:10-11 He who rescued us from so deadly a peril will continue to rescue us; on him we have set our hope that he will rescue us again, as you also join in helping us by your prayers, so that many may give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many. (For context, read 2 Corinthians 1:8-11.)

Paul describes the affliction he and his coworkers experienced as so "utterly, unbearably crush[ing]" that they "despaired of life itself" and were pushed to "rely not on [them]selves but on God." Believing in God "who raises the dead" meant they could even "receive the sentence of death" without fear (vv. 8-9).

The rescue of the sailors was launched because a relative sensed they might be in trouble and reached out to ask for help. Intercessory prayer functions like this. We learn about a person's need, or the Holy Spirit lays someone on our heart, and we come before the Lord to advocate for them or request some kind of intervention in their lives, setting in motion a chain reaction of actions on their behalf.

Questions:Whom does intercessory prayer benefit, and how does it help people? When you engage in intercessory prayer, on what do you focus? If you tend to emphasize the physical needs of people, how might you broaden your prayer to include their spiritual, emotional, developmental, social and intellectual needs?

Luke 11:9-10 [Jesus said,] "So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened."(For context, read Luke 11:5-13).

This passage occurs immediately after the disciples ask Jesus to teach them to pray, and Jesus provides them with a model prayer many Christians know by heart as The Lord's Prayer. Jesus asks the disciples what they would do if a friend arrived unexpectedly, late at night, and they had nothing in the house to offer the guest to eat. Hospitality was a critical value in that culture, and it would have been unacceptable to let the visitor go hungry.

Jesus suggests that normally, any one of the disciples would pull out all the stops to rectify the problem presented by bare cupboards, even going to a friend at midnight to ask for the loan of bread to serve his guest (vv. 5-6). Jesus says that a friend might decline to get out of bed, lest he disturb his children who were sleeping beside him. But if the petitioner persists, his friend might ultimately grant his request, not out of friendship, but because he knows he won't be able to get back to sleep unless he gives him what he asked for (vv. 7-8).

The Amplified Version makes it clear that Jesus is advocating persistence in prayer: "So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened" (Luke 11:9-10 AMPC).

The following section reveals that God is not like a sleepy neighbor who has to be persuaded to help us, but that God is more like a parent who delights in giving good things to his children (Luke 11:11-13).

In the news article, the sailors tried to ask for help using a radio, only to discover that it had run out of battery power. But they persisted, and found another way to appeal for help, using "old school technology" of palm branches on a white sandy beach. That effort, combined with the action of their niece to call the Coast Guard for help, led to their rescue.

Questions: If, as Jesus says, God is already amenable to answering the prayers of his children, why would we need to keep on asking? What is persistent prayer meant to develop in our character and in our relationship with God? What are other benefits of persistent prayer?

Mark 14:32-34 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." He took with him Peter and James and John and began to be distressed and agitated. And he said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, even to death; remain here, and keep awake." (For context, read Mark 14:32-41.)

Sometimes people may find it hard to ask for help, due to pride, shame or something else. But admitting we need help at times is not a sign of weakness. It is a recognition that we are human. That kind of humility is a good thing.

TWW team member Mary Sells remarked, "I think humility is needed for anyone to request help. I think of the command, 'Do not rely on your own insight' (Proverbs 3:5) so often when I am trying to fix problems that are beyond my ability and then remember -- Oh, yeah, God loves me and wants my best outcome, so praying for his help is the best I can do. We all have skills and experiences that serve us well in much of our lives; however, we need to know when to accept our limitations and invite God to help us."

In her article, "Even Jesus Asked For Help," blogger Cheri Swalwell writes, "One of Jesus' main purposes of coming to Earth was to be a human example, giving us encouragement and hope for our daily lives. … even Jesus called on his dearest friends, the people closest to him in his ministry, for help right before the ultimate sacrifice he would make … Jesus' example shows me that I do not have to be alone. It is okay to ask for help, it is okay to share my inmost feelings, and it is okay to accept help -- in fact, if Jesus did it, then it is more than okay; it is the best way."

Questions:To whom do you turn, in addition to God, when you need help? If you are not accustomed to asking other people for support, what might be preventing you from doing so? How might requesting help from others turn into a blessing?

Luke 5:7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they began to sink. (For context, read Luke 5:4-11.) Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up the other, but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?(No context needed.)

At the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry, he told Simon Peter to put his boat out into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch (v. 4). Though they had fished all night without catching anything, Simon agreed to follow Jesus' directions, and the result was that they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to burst (vv. 5-6).

Simon might well have lost the entire catch, if he had been greedy and tried to keep it all to himself. But he understood the principles found in the Ecclesiastes text, whether he'd ever heard them or not, that collaboration and cooperation generally produce better results than solo operations. So he asked their partners for help, and they were able to bring in the huge catch.

Of course, Jesus was not primarily interested in improving their angling prospects, because he had plans to teach them to fish for people (v. 10). Just as they needed to work together to bring home their catch of fish, they would need to collaborate with one another in the more significant enterprise of building the kingdom of God.

In the news story, the rescue of the castaways was possible through the collaborative effort of multiple agencies, governments, individuals and organizations from Hawaii to Guam, Japan to Micronesia, from Coast Guard and Navy personnel to aircraft crews, a concerned niece and a rescuer who turned out to be a distant cousin of the mariners.

Questions:How do you cooperate with others to build God's kingdom? What are the challenges of working together with others in that endeavor? What are the benefits?

For Further Discussion

1. Discuss this, from Paul Currington, of Fresh Ground Stories: "I'm always suspicious when I hear people say, 'I earned everything I got. No one ever gave me anything.' They're probably saying that right after someone stopped to let them into traffic or they're snapping up a maple bar from a box of doughnuts someone brought into work. I am happy to say that lots of people have helped me get to where I am today. I would be leading a terribly lonely life if I couldn't look back and remember all the help I've received from family, friends, and strangers. Knowing that I've been helped by others keeps me humble and appreciative. It also reminds me that I'm not alone. ... people show up all the time to help each other. ... sometimes it's my job to be the one who shows up."

2. Comment on this, from Brené Brown, Rising Strong: The Reckoning. The Rumble. The Revolution: "Dependence starts when we are born and lasts until we die. We accept our dependence as babies and ultimately, with varying degrees of resistance, we accept help when we get to the end of our lives. But in the middle of our lives, we mistakenly fall prey to the myth that successful people are those that help rather than need, and broken people need rather than help. Given enough resources, we can even pay for help and create the mirage that we are completely self-sufficient. But the truth is that no amount of money, influence, resources or determination will change our physical, emotional and spiritual dependence on others."

3. "Never hesitate to show your own staff that you need help," wrote Georgette Mosbacher, former U.S. Ambassador to Poland and business executive. "They need to be reminded how important they are to the process. In life and in business, we rely on each other to be responsible for individual tasks that benefit everyone. People sometimes forget how much interdependence there really is in a successful business. Learn the art of asking for help to empower and motivate others, and you will have learned a very powerful management strategy." "Asking is a way of giving," says psychotherapist Luigina Sgarro. How might that be true? How might asking for help benefit not only the person doing the asking, but also the person who hears the request for help?

4. According to evangelist Billy Graham, "The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'" "Don't be afraid to ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day," wrote former President Barack Obama. "Asking for help isn't a sign of weakness, it's a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don't know something, and to learn something new." Candice Jarrett, author of Mortal Tether agrees: "It's ok to need help. It's ok to break down and have to be rescued. In fact, sometimes asking for help is the bravest thing we can possibly do." How might you be encouraged by the knowledge that even people like Billy Graham and Barack Obama sometimes have felt the need to ask for help? Why might it take courage to ask for help?

5. "From what I've seen, it isn't so much the act of asking that paralyzes us -- it's what lies beneath: the fear of being vulnerable, the fear of rejection, the fear of looking needy or weak. The fear of being seen as a burdensome member of the community instead of a productive one," wrote Amanda Palmer, in The Art of Asking; or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help. "Brene Brown has found through her research that women tend to feel shame around the idea of being 'never enough' … Men tend to feel shame around the fear of being perceived as weak … Both sexes get trapped in the same box for different reasons," Palmer added. "If I ask for help … I am not enough. If I ask for help … I'm weak. It's no wonder so many of us don't bother to ask, it's too painful." What anxieties or fears might hinder you from admitting you need help? What might allay those fears, and free you to be more open about your needs?

Responding to the News

Some cries for help show up in popular culture, almost like prayers: in art such as Edvard Munch's The Scream, and in songs such as Help! By The Beatles (Video 2:16), and Nick Carter's Help Me (Video 3:12).

Help Is On The Way (Video 3:02), by TobyMac, seems to be one musician's response to such cries for help. Here are two others, both from Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, based on Psalm 121: Total Praise with Lyrics (Video 7:05)and My Help with lyrics (Video 7:54).

You might take some time this week to scroll through these selections, while acknowledging areas of your life where you need God's help, and while interceding for others who could use God's help as well.

Prayer suggested by Psalm 91:14-16

Thank you, O God, that you promise to deliver those who love you, and to protect those who know your name. Fill us with love for you, and tell us your name, so that we might know you as "The God who answers when we call to you" and "The God who is with us in trouble" and "The God who rescues us, honors us, satisfies us with long life, and shows us your salvation." Amen.

Copyright 2024 Communication Resources