On July 10, 2018, the world rejoiced as the last soccer players and their coach were rescued from deep within a flooded cave in Thailand. The team had been exploring the cave when flood waters rushed in and blocked their exit. For ten days they were trapped on a rocky ledge, living on water, fruitlessly trying to dig their way out in the dark.
By God’s grace some skilled and determined divers found them and rescued all 12 boys and their coach 18 days after they had first entered the cave. “It was a miracle,” one boy announced to reporters. Indeed. How thankful we all are that the lost were found and were brought out safely.
Let us honor the divers and rescue teams for their care and courage. Let us pray for the family of the divers who died from working as part of the mission. And let us thank God for guiding all of it, answering countless prayers for the team to be saved. Glory to His name.
And may we reflect on how we were once trapped in sin’s dark place, with no power of our own to bring us out. But through faith in God’s grace, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).
Each member of the soccer team had to trust fully in the divers who at times were carrying them or pulling them through narrow underwater passages. That’s faith. Like the boys in the cave, our best efforts are hopeless, “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy” (Titus 3:4-5). God’s saving mercy is for all who trust in Him.
Trust in Jesus today. He will bring you out of the darkness of sin and shame and death. He will be your Light and Life from now and for eternity.
