Today, we are taking a look at miracles from heaven. With that in mind, consider the following miracle story. ‘In the U.S. Navy, the Seabees have a saying: “The difficult, we do immediately. The impossible takes a little time.” Author Jamie Buckingham shares this story from the missionary adventures of JAARS (Jungle Aviation and Radio Service—the flying arm for Wycliffe Bible Translators). We pick up his story about a pilot who was fighting to keep his plane from a fatal crash:
Never for an instant did Ralph believe they could live through the pending crash … He could feel his wife’s warm hand on the back of his clammy knuckles where he gripped the stick. “We do our best; God does the rest.” It was the motto of JAARS Jungle Aviation and Radio Service. During all the time of the emergency, he had not called upon God. Why had he waited? Why had he not cried out at ten thousand feet? Now, with death only seconds away, he gulped the words. “Father, if You still have work for my passengers and me, please bring on the engine.” It was a sensible prayer. He could have prayed for a giant hand to rise out of the jungle and cushion his fall. He could have asked for ten thousand angels to bear him up on down wings. But like Moses at the Red Sea, he was content for God to work in natural ways—not by sending a strong east wind to blowback the sea—but by bringing the engine back to life. He had a thought – the carburetor heat! It was used primarily to prevent ice from forming in the carburetor. But, there were no known instances of icing at this altitude. The carburetor heat! Again he tried to dismiss the thought, to spit it out of his mind. But it pounded against the inside of his temples. It rang in his head. And his hand was obedient. He reached down and jerked the carburetor heat handle and, at the same time, pulled back on the stick. The jungle had arrived. The only thing to do was flatten his glide just at the treetops, lose as much speed as possible, and settle into the foliage. Certainly forever. Suddenly there was a mighty roar upfront. The big prop, which had been slowly windmilling in the streaming air, roared to life as if they had never quit. The thousand horses were up and running again, straining at the traces and trying to pull the sinking old Duck out of the jaws of death with all of their might. Ralph’s Canadian dignity, shaken to the soles of his soggy socks, finally broke. It came forth like the sound of a shipwrecked sailor thrown at last upon a sandy beach.
From the very inner part of his soul, an utterance of thanksgiving came forth. “Praise the Lord!” he said with deep reverence and, then, repeated it. “Praise the Lord!” Leadership Ministries Worldwide, Practical Illustrations: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2001), 96–97. Miracles happen all of the time. We have a part to play, and God has a part. Can you identify the parts of this eventful story? That’s what we will do in this week’s podcast – identify and assess the parts. What Is Your Part Versus God’s Part in Getting Miracles from Heaven? That’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.
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Powerful Can’t Miss Lessons on the Rod of God
[Tweet “That’s the first lesson in receiving miracles from heaven? Confidence in God is necessary.”].
