Dennis and Jamie Winegar were in the right place at the wrong time. The visitors from Houston, Texas, were among the survivors of the bridge collapse near downtown Minneapolis. Their car landed on top of a smaller car. You can imagine the terror they felt when they realized the road beneath their car had literally dropped out from under them.
Minneapolis, Minn. - Photo by Aliaksandr Nikitsin
Dennis said, "I slammed on my brakes and saw something in front of me disappear and then my car pointed straight down and we fell." He estimated they dropped about 50 feet.1
Immediately, everyone who could, got out of their cars and started helping each other off the bridge. Jamie Winegar said, "There were a bunch of people right around there helping everyone. Angels is what I call them."2
When a disaster occurs it is amazing how people rally to help one another. We saw this with the 911 terrorist attacks and we see it locally when tragedy strikes. During such times, we realize how dependent we are upon one another for survival.
The same is true in the spiritual realm. We need each other!
Search and Rescue
There is no reason to live except to fulfill God's purpose for your life. Pursuing any other agenda will eventually lead to disillusionment and despair. Jesus said it best when he said, "what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul."
The broken condition of the earth and its inhabitants provides little hope for tomorrow. Science and technology cannot solve all of our problems. Certainly, medical technology has added more years to our lives, but what good does it do if people still have no clue why they exists? Living longer without a sense of purpose only prolongs the misery. Eventually, everyone still dies.
When I realize that God's ultimate plan for humanity never included death, and that currently Heaven is in a search-and-rescue mode that feverishly seeks to reclaim people from sin's deadly effects, then I begin to understand what I am needed for. God wants my assistance to help others find their way to safety. Sin is an on-going disaster. Over the years it has claimed millions of lives. At times, it seems there is no solution to its deadly effects, yet God says there is.
"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again..."3
"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."4
The rescue efforts continue to this day. Many still haven't been told there is a way out, or at least they haven't heard it explained with any credibility.
That's where you and I come in. God is asking those who have heard and accepted the "good news" to simply share it with those who haven't. This gives purpose to our lives while we wait. When we neglect to share what we know with others, we not only call into question our own acceptance of God's offer, but we also lose our sense of purpose and reason to live. We're simply taking up space and waiting to die.
Saved by Grace
Every day we need a fresh dose of God's grace to be reminded of how fortunate we are to have Jesus. This is what energizes us to live and love as Jesus did.
In Minneapolis, Jeremy Hernandez was grateful the school bus he and dozens of children were in did not get crushed under the falling debri of the bridge.
"If it would have been a second later, any second before, we would have been in the water or under the pavement, because the pavement crushed another car that was in front of us," he said.5
When you survive a disaster of this magnitude and realize you were only seconds away from being killed, you are filled with a sense of gratitude for every moment that follows.
Hernandez is credited with helping the children on the bus escape to safety. You can be sure that each parent knows their child was saved by grace!
May we understand how fortunate we are, and may that inspire us to do what we can to help others.
1. www.cnn.com, August 2, 2007
2. ibid., August 2, 2007
3. John 3:16-17 (The Message)
4. Colossians 1:13-14. (NASB)
5. www.cnn.com, August 2, 2007
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