When the six men and Canelo, the faithful pup, left from Cozumel, their plan included fishing. Lots of fishing. Yes, the little open air single outboard motor boat was pushing its limits with 7 passengers, but they weren’t going that far out. All would be well.
Until the engine failed.
They vailantly tried to row the boat, but the pull of the tides overwhelmed them.
They tried to radio for help, but there were issues.
As the sun set that night, I wonder what was going on in their heads as they floated alone in the vast ocean without any protection.
What they didn’t know was as the day went on and they had not returned, their families got involved and soon, the Mexican navy and search teams from Quintana Roo were activated. They looked, but they couldn’t find the men.
The sun rose and the sun set.
Without any food, water or shade, they floated along. Literally they were in the middle of James 1:6
But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
On the third day, the sun rose.
I imagine the desolation in some of their eyes. The fear. The fervent prayers being lifted from both the boat and their loved ones now very many miles away. After three days, it probably seemed hopeless.
Until.
Now, here is where I DO know what happened as I was sitting on a lounger by the pool when Captain James’ voice boomed over us.
“Hey guys, you might have noticed that we are slowing down. We see a small dot on the horizon and we need to check it out.”
Curious, I joined the throngs of people at the railing.
“Is that a boat?” someone asked. People with binoculars were very popular as they were giving us all the details. “There are six people in a tiny boat” one yells followed by, “and they have a dog!”
Everyone abandoned what they were doing to watch.
As we are in Holy Week, I can’t help but draw a parallel. Three days. I imagine all the angels of Heaven as we were–looking down and anxiously awaiting people to be rescued from a hopeless situation.
I was THERE. We cheered when the Captain announced that the fishermen were all safe. They were a bit dehydrated and hungry, but their hope had been restored. We were loud in our celebration. Can you imagine the deafening roar from the angels when Jesus walked out of the tomb?
But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Acts 2:24
As we were cheering the end and that evening watching the videos of the families reuniting, it was easy to forget about the three days. Sometimes, as Christians, we too forget about the three days that the world sat in utter darkness. There was a promise of hope…
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Acts 1:3-9
If you are walking through a season of “three days,” do not be like the wave of James 1:6. You may be, like Act 1 says, “suffering grief in all kinds of trials.” It’s not easy, friend.
Sometimes even reassurances like, “These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may result in praise. glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” aren’t enough to balance out the pain.
Faith builds faith and if you don’t have your own stories of God’s provision in your life, lean onto the stories of others to help you though. Perhaps it is the story of six fisherman in their tiny boat being rescued by literally one of the largest cruise ships at sea.
I’m learning to take joy in being part of a story which brings God praise, glory and honor. Often I wish that story was limited to three days, but sometimes stories need more time for character development. If you are in a season like this, reach out. Let’s together lean into 1 Thessalonians 5:11 and encourage one other and build each other up.
Regardless of your season right now, what I do know is that in a few weeks there will be a day that we all get to cheer and celebrate the empty tomb and what that means–a victorious reunion story for each of us.
Cheers! Deanna
P.S. How do you develop faith? It starts in the small things.
P.P.S. Need to know more about the fisherman? Here is a local news report from Cozumel. The English dubbing is pretty interesting. 🙂
P.P.P.S This was a truly eventful trip. THIS was the story I was originally going to write about until it got bumped by this one. It’s a similar story of provision.
