The Amazing Providence of God

By Kirk Wellum

Every once in a while there is a story which reminds us that our times are in God's hands. According to news reports today three young Mexican fishermen missing at sea since last November have been found alive 8000 kilometers from where they first set out. After an extensive search the three were given up for dead, only to be rescued by the Koo 102, a Marshall's Island fishing boat, on August 9th.

The three young men survived the ordeal in a 10 metre fishing boat by drinking rain water and eating whatever fish and sea birds they were able to capture. Apparently, although they are sunburned and much thinner than when they left, they are in good health.

They had planned to do some deep-sea fishing for two to three weeks when their outboard motors failed and they were left adrift in the ocean. They were pushed westward by the same sea currents that carried the Spanish and Portuguese explorers across the Pacific many years ago in search of riches and a new world.

When I hear a story like this I say to myself: "It wasn't their time!" By that I mean that God had not ordained that they die at sea but instead that they be rescued as they were. I say this because I believe in the sovereignty of God; which is to say that he is in control of all things and he works out everything according to his good will and purpose. Some people die when they merely slip into deep water. These men survived months at sea and lived to tell the tale. I trust they and their families will reflect on God's goodness to them and that they will turn to the Lord in faith and call upon him to save them eternally in his Son, Jesus, if they have not already.

What is true of them, is true of all of us. Our times are in God's hands. For some he has ordained a long life; for others a very short life. Some survive in spite of incredible odds; others are struck down suddenly never to rise again. None of us knows what God has in store for us in terms of this life. And that should not be our concern as Christians.

Our job is to faithfully serve him to the best of our ability every day of our lives, whether they be few or many. The sovereignty of God means that we are invincible until our time comes. It also means that when it comes there is nothing we can do to prevent it. If we are ready to meet God that it not a problem because we know that our heavenly Father makes no mistakes and when he calls us home, we are are home indeed!