TimesofIsrael.com/AFP PHOTO / YE AUNG THU
All eyes are on Thailand as rescue attempts continue for 12 young boys and their soccer coach trapped deep in a cave. Monsoon season is upon that land and there are warning signs up to not explore the caves during the rainy season.
We could be saying they got what they deserved. Why did they make such a dumb decision?
But we don’t say that. We pray. And we watch. We follow the reports and we hope for the best possible outcome. We feel the parents’ anguish as they wait for news. We applaud the bravery of the rescuers.
Las Vegas Review Journal (reviewjournal.com)/AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
And we have hope. So far, 8 have been brought out of their cavernous confines. 1 rescuer has died. 5 still wait and hope.
Remember in 2010 when 33 Chilean miners were rescued from their collapsed mine where they had been trapped for 69 days? 69 days.
People around the world cheered when the first miner was taken out. We were so grateful they were all safe and well.
And most of us didn’t even know them.
Even before that, in October of 1987, 18-month-old Jessica McClure was rescued from a well in her aunt’s backyard after 58 consecutive hours of efforts by rescuers. “I had God on my side that day,” Jessica says in a 2017 issue of PEOPLE. “My life is a miracle.”
Both the miners’ story and that of baby Jessica were made into movies.
And now, the world is focused on Thailand and 13 human beings who had to have wondered if they were going to survive. 8 are out. 5 more to go.
trtworld.com/Thai News Pix via AP /AP
When a British diver finally found them, they were so happy and asked if they were going to be taken out that day. Unfortunately, their deliverance is going to take time. Food and medical care were delivered to them.
And hope. Hope was brought in that day.
In the early days after they were located, some were predicting they may have to stay in that cave until monsoon season is over. You know how long that is?
4 months.
Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Darkness. Fear. Depleting air supply. Little food. All these things have confronted these boys and young men. But they have had each other to encourage and talk to and hold onto hope with.
As one by one their teammates and companions have been taken to the surface, how must those who are still waiting feel? Is excitement building or is anxiety riding right behind?
Will they make it out alive? Will they come back for me? Who will be the last one left?
And so we pray.
You are seen. You are loved. You are not alone.
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We hope for your rescue because we ourselves are in need of rescuing from the kingdom of darkness.
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Colossians 1:13).
“What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?” (Matthew 18:12).
Compelled 