Save our Ship!

     From a less-than-regional-wide church meeting some many Sundays ago, this anecdote stuck out to me as I pondered my purpose as a missionary:

     A nighttime tempest raging in the high seas, the winds and waves dancing together in furious passion, a time-tested tugboat lay in its midst.  Helpless to the whim of nature, the captain of a crew of 15 radios the coast guard and the navy-- a desperate SOS. 

Mayday

     Received, the nearest coast guard ship hears of the distress.  Some guardsmen respond with urgency and selflessness, willing to risk their own lives in the peril of the storm to save these boatsmen.  The ship captain responds to these acts of valor with a denial of request-- a plan of sorts has to be mapped out before saving these souls.  The storm still raging, the coast guardsmen radio the nearest naval detachment for more instruction.  Told to wait until they have a sound plan for a rescue, the guardsmen obey, the tugboat deteriorating.
     Delayed due to complications and no sound plan, the rescue is not executed until late dawn the following day.  The storm quelled, the search and rescue team heads out to find what is left of the tugboat crew.  At the coordinates of the SOS, the team sees the remains of what was the tugboat,  now just floating debris of aluminum.  Of the sixteen, not a single one was found, even around a 2-mile radius.  The coast guardsmen put off the rescue until it was too late.

     What we can learn from this is that sudden tempestuous situations can hit us at any time.  Salvation may be just a [few miles] away.  However, we cannot delay the salvation of others, as they look up for help and understanding.  The time will pass and these souls will be lost.  As every soul is precious in the eyes of God, there cannot be an opportunity passed where these people may be saved.