When Disaster Strikes and All Hope is Gone

The following ad ran in a London newspaper in 1913:

In late 1914, Shackleton set sail for the Antarctic with a 28-man crew, many of whom had responded to this ad.  His goal was to cross the entire Antarctic continent, in his mind the last great polar challenge.

Only three days later the wooden ship, Endurance, was battered by floating chunks of ice and massive icebergs.  Eventually the ice crushed the hull of the ship.  The crew scrambled off the ship onto an ice floe.  For the next five months Shackleton kept the crew busy working on tasks, food was rationed, and two unsuccessful attempts were made to haul the lifeboats to open water.

The crew then faced another catastrophe: the ice floe began to melt.  Everyone scurried into the lifeboats and spent 7 days shivering at sea.  Shackleton stood at the tiller in an attempt to rally the crew’s morale.  He decided to head for nearby Elephant Island.

Shackleton knew there was no hope of rescue so he made a desperate decision. He and 5 others sailed to the nearest whaling station at South Georgia Island.  They sailed for 17 days across 800 miles through massive waves, powerful winds, and even a hurricane using only primitive navigation instruments.  They made it, but the whaling station was on the opposite side of the island.  Tired, thirsty, hungry, frostbitten, and their lifeboat destroyed, Shackleton’s team traversed treacherous glaciers and steep mountains to reach help after a 36 hour journey.

In a borrowed boat Shackleton’s team sailed back to Elephant Island unsure of what awaited them.  As they approached the shore, Shackleton counted the figures in the distance.  Amazingly, everyone survived the ordeal.  A friend summed it up best.  “When disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton.”

The Christian life is a Great Adventure. It is a hazardous journey filled with dangers, setbacks, and obstacles. As believers we are together, in a sense, on a hazardous journey the good ship Endurance with Jesus Christ as our Captain.  We are shipwrecked, lost, and in peril. We cannot face these trials alone. Not only do we desperately need Christ, we also need each other – the Church!

Without Christ as the leader of life, we are doomed. When we trust in Christ, when we surrender control of our lives and LET HIM LEAD, we will be saved. “Everyone will survive the ordeal.”

“When disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Jesus Christ – His wisdom, power, hope, and victory.”

©2011 Designed to Serve®