Miners rescued:  "God gave us a miracle" 

by Paul Heil, 
June 30, 2002 - For three days and nights last week, the nation's attention was focused on a small southwestern Pennsylvania coal mine where nine miners were trapped in a suddenly-flooded mine chamber. 
For three days and nights there were the news accounts of the "unflappable hope" of the community (as one wire service put it) while, on the other hand, officials tried their best to temper that hope with explanations of the uncertainties involved in such a rescue effort. 
But then, early Sunday morning, came word that heroic efforts by drilling teams had finally made a way for their escape. One by one, the miners were pulled up some 257 feet to the surface from that tomb-like chamber in which they had been trapped. They were rescued! They were set free! 
The New York Times ran a color photo yesterday morning of a billboard near the Quecreek mine that said, simply, "God gave us a miracle." The coal company president, a doctor who treated the rescued miners, church congregations giving thanks in Somerset on Sunday morning - all used the same word: "miracle!" And indeed it was. 
These men were saved! A way had been made for their escape. And they took advantage of it. "Well, of course they took advantage of it," you might say. But wait a minute. Why is it that so many people refuse the even greater rescue that God provides? 
Without God, we are trapped in even worse darkness -- spiritual darkness. The raging waters of life threaten to wash us away to certain destruction. But all the while, God was busy preparing a way for us to be rescued. The Son of God came "to seek and to save that which was lost." (Luke 19:10.) He, too, spent "three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”
(Matthew 12:40.) But then, interestingly also early on a Sunday morning, he came out of that hole in the ground! In this case, though, He had not been the captive. Indeed, He set the captives free! They (we) could finally see the Light! 
The priest Zacharias, upon hearing of Christ's birth, said Jesus would "give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death..." (Luke 1: 79.) 
But the rescuer cannot rescue someone who doesn't want to be rescued. If any of those miners had refused rescue, no one could have done anything about it. They would have surely perished. 
But there are many who refuse the rescue that God makes available. They listen to those who say no such rescue is possible -- so why bother. 
They're oblivious to their precarious situation, blinded by the spiritual darkness around them. They ignore God's "rescue capsule" waiting nearby in the form of a Christian friend or pastor willing to share the Good News. 
God wants to rescue everyone from that darkness, that hopelessness, those burdens of sin that seem to close in all around, choking off the light of day. In fact, one by one, God is rescuing souls every day. 
Just like that mine rescue, God's gift of salvation is a miracle - and it's just as real. But, also just like that mine rescue, this rescue has to be accepted to make it happen. Have you accepted that rescue? If you have, you've seen the darkness of sin turn into the light of God's day. If you haven't, make today the day! Make this the day you are rescued from your past. 
The Kingdom Heirs have a song that puts it this way: "I've been saved from the flames of a hot burning fire; Lifted from the tempest as the waves grew higher; Sheltered from a desert dusty and dry; I was given a drink of water when I thought I would die; Delivered from the danger of a dark lion's den; Given new life in exchange for my sin; Set free, forgiven, I've been born again 
My brother I have been rescued!
(Paul Heil is the host of “The Gospel Greats” heard each Thursday evening at 8:05 p.m. on WXAN 103.9 FM and KMHM 104.1 FM, Sundays at Noon on KMHM and at 2 p.m. on WXAN. You may e-mail Paul Heil at paul@thegospelgreats.com or connect to his website through the links at www.wxan.net or www.kmhm.net.)