After many hours of treading water and staying afloat, James Grimes was spotted in the Gulf of Mexico and rescued by the Coast Guard.
The Grimes family had boarded a ship for a Thanksgiving cruise. But less than 24 hours later, the family found itself in the middle of a nightmare.
Earlier that evening, James Grimes had left the family to use the restroom, and his family assumed he had retired for the night. But that’s not what happened. The following afternoon, James’s sister reported him missing after finding his cabin vacant.
James has no recollection of how it happened, but he fell overboard late that evening. He regained consciousness in the dark of the night, bobbing in the water. He was alone with no cruise ship in sight. Throughout the whole night, he had been swimming and treading water.
James said he battled confusion, fatigue, and some sea creatures. He grabbed a floating stick and chewed on it to get a different flavour than saltwater.
We can only imagine the loneliness James experienced in such a hopeless situation. With no coastline or ship in sight, no flotation device and no planes flying overhead – what were his chances of staying afloat?
The cruise ship alerted the Coast Guard, and they began to search vast areas of the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, James saw lights from a tanker ship and tried to swim toward it. He took off his socks and waved them at the tanker trying to get noticed by the crew. At the same time, the crew of the tanker spotted him in the water and alerted the Coast Guard with the exact location.
The Coast Guard lowered a rescuer to lift James from the water. James thought the rescuer was like a guardian angel coming down for him.
That ‘guardian angel,’ said that Grimes collapsed once he put the rescue sling under his arms. He had nothing left. After treading water for nearly 20 hours and battling jellyfish, rip currents and shark-infested waters, James was pulled from the Gulf of Mexico and airlifted to a hospital. He was saved from a tragic death at sea.
Are there spiritual parallels that can be drawn from this amazing story?
So many don’t know how they ended up in the darkness they are in. All they know is that now they are treading the deep and murky waters of life – wondering how much longer they can hold on. For some, it is an issue of mental health, and they require appropriate support. But for all, there is a pressing and urgent spiritual need – we need to be rescued from the ocean of sin and the darkness that permeates our lives from the inside out.
Personal improvement efforts may help keep us afloat and may change the flavour of our lives – like chewing on the end of a stick to change the taste in the Gulf of Mexico – but it does nothing to alter our location or plight on the sea of life, adrift from God. Here’s a well-known Bible verse that speaks to our inability to save ourselves from our sin. “For when we were still without strength [helpless], in due time Christ died for the
ungodly” (Romans 5:6).
We can only imagine the relief that James experienced when he heard the noise of the helicopter getting closer and then saw the powerful searchlight shining on him in the dark waters. What must it have been like when the rescuer came down, right to his side in the water and prepared him for the upward hoist into the helicopter!
God loves you, and He is willing and able to save you from your sins. Did you know that Christ came down from Heaven to become your Saviour and to make your rescue possible? Grimes said his rescuer was like a “guardian angel.” But when it came to rescuing you from your sins, God did not send an angel. He sent His only begotten Son.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
If sin is the problem that isolates and separates you from God and causes your darkness, we point you to Christ. He appeared over 2000 years ago to die on a Cross for our sins. No other sacrifice could ever put away
our sins from God’s Holy eyes. Would you like to be saved from your sins? We point you to Jesus Christ, who is mighty to save.
Heaven4Sure
Photo credit: Suphanat Khumsap
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