Four Ways God Rescues Us (Part 4)

God Rescues us from the Wrath to Come

“Pull the red lever. Pull the red lever!”

Sitting to the right of the helicopter pilot, I frantically looked around for the red lever that he was shouting about.

Just minutes before, the pilot, knowing I was a bit nervous about my first helicopter ride, was joiking around with me as we flew over a lake.

“Do you know how to swim?” he chuckled.

“Yes,  but hopefully I won’t be swimming today.”

It was my first week as a television intern at the ABC affiliate in Dallas and I was tagging along with a news crew to a story in Cleburne, Texas. It saved a lot of driving time to take the chopper.

But then something went terribly wrong. The compressor malfunctioned on the helicopter. The pilot had to shut off the engine. I was in the co-pilot seat and the pilot was commanding me to pull the red lever to lower the fire screen between us and the engine. I fumbled around, couldn’t find it, so he pulled it himself. The screen was designed to protect us if the engine ignited. Meanwhile, because we were high enough in elevation, we were able to auto rotate to the ground and landed with a thud.

While we survived, one week later the same helicopter suffered a different fate. It crashed, this time carrying the pilot, sports photographer and the photographer’s wife. It  got caught up in telephone wire while trying to download highlights from a Baylor football game. I was the one in the sports department who was taking that feed, but I could have easily been on the helicopter if the photographer’s wife had not made the trip to log the plays.

I was only 22 at the time, but years later, I realized God saved me from certain death in both those instances and now I never take the gift of life for granted. Each day I thank him for another opportunity to serve Him.

I also realize God saved me from eternal death as well. When I gave up the control of my life to Jesus at age 35, a television career was no longer my passion. I began to live for Christ. The scales were taken off my spiritual eyes and I saw things with an eternal perspective. I also realized, through my salvation, God rescued me from the “wrath to come.” John 3:36 says, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

If you have ever wondered, “Why would a loving God send people to Hell?” Flip it and realize, “A loving God offers everyone an opportunity to accept his Son so they don’t have to go to Hell.”

2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

I am thankful God was patient with me. After praying a prayer in high school to accept Jesus, I drifted away from the faith for seventeen years before rededicating my life to the Lord. That’s when the change in me began.

Today I ask you, Are you certain of your eternal future? We can’t take any day for granted. If you have never given over your life to God, here’s a simple prayer to pray:

“Lord, God, I have done a lot of wrong in my life and I want to be right with you. I confess the wrong and ask you to forgive me. I recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah and know that he died on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice so I might be cleansed of my sin and gain eternal life with you. I give the control of my life over to Jesus today and ask that he reside in my heart from this day forward. In Jesus Name I pray, AMEN