Years ago, I read a crazy story about a man named Ivan. In the summer of 2022, this man from North Macedonia, a landlocked country in Southeast Europe which shares its southern land border with Greece, survived 18 hours lost at sea by clinging to a toy ball that floated towards him.
The 30-year-old Ivan became caught in powerful currents off the coast of Myti Beach in Kassandra, Greece. While he was treading water and trying to survive the ordeal, this partially deflated ball just happened to float by him. Ivan spotted it and clung to it to help him float.
After 18 hours, he was rescued by a Greek Coast Guard helicopter crew who pulled him to safety.
There was a fascinating part in the article about how the ball found its way to the water. After seeing the picture on the news, a mother of two came forward to say the ball appeared to be the same one her sons lost while at a beach 80 miles away and 10 days earlier!
A partially deflated toy ball seems like a useless piece of trash that most of us would throw away without a moment’s hesitation. But a partially deflated toy ball floating in the middle of the ocean, at just the right spot, helped a man survive when everything was against him.
I was reminded of this crazy, lost-at-sea story as I reflected on the message from yesterday. Like Ivan that toy ball, we can often feel lost at sea. Life can be chaotic, busy, hard, sad, etc. We sometimes bring this on ourselves through poor choices, bad decisions, and the sin that so easily entangles us.
There is a promise of scripture we must remember: Nothing can separate us from the love of God, and no one is beyond the reach of God’s mercy.
When we give our lives to the One who can redeem us, we still have great value. God loves us enough to save us from ourselves. As King David wrote, God separates us from our sin “as far as the east is from the west.” Not because of anything we did or do, but because it’s who He is. It’s in His holy nature to pour out love, mercy, and grace.
Remember church: God’s Not Done With You.
Prayer: God, thank you for your mercy that is always greater than our sin. In Jesus’ holy name we pray, Amen.
Grace and peace,
Aaron