Scripture Reading:
PSALM 107
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
PSALM 73:26
KODY WATTS LACED HIS HIKING BOOTS, slipped on a parka, and set out for a winter hike. That morning he’d gotten into a fight with his parents over what he was going to do after graduation. They wanted him to go to college, but he thought college could wait. He was thinking of something daring and adventurous.
His mother had said, “Just listen to what God’s telling you to do.” But he wasn’t so sure God talked to people, especially him.
His parents’ home was within walking distance of a large lake that had a thick layer of ice over it, except for patches of thin ice in the middle. His plan was to hike around the lake’s perimeter and think about his life. As he reached the frozen shore, he saw storm clouds gathering in the northwest.
As a boy, Kody wanted to become an emergency room doctor. But after his ninth-grade year, he struggled with science and math. Then there were football and basketball and, well, lots of girls. All of which left little time for studying. Kody pulled Cs and Bs, and that wouldn’t get the university to even consider him.
Kody kept walking for nearly an hour about a hundred yards offshore. It was getting colder fast and the dark clouds had moved in over the lake. He wasn’t quite halfway around the frozen lake when the snow began falling, so he turned around. He hadn’t even left a note for his parents, so they had no idea where he was.
Okay, God, get me home safe. He’d been caught in storms before—just not this far from home. But he always felt closer to God when he was outdoors. The Lord would be right beside him as he walked.
Minutes later, the clouds darkened and seemed to almost settle on top of the ice. As Kody picked up his pace, the snow fell harder and he could no longer see the shore. He kept his gaze straight ahead, but all at once a fierce wind swept over him and he was in a complete whiteout.
Afraid he might be heading toward the middle of the lake, Kody turned left, moving toward what he hoped was the shore. The blizzard was intensifying with each passing moment. After ten minutes, he figured he should have reached the shore. Ten more minutes went by, and a wave of panic pierced his heart. The temperature had dropped below zero and the air was burning his lips and throat, making his lungs ache.
Kody began jogging but hit a chunky section of ice and stumbled. Struggling to his feet, he realized he’d completely lost his sense of direction and couldn’t even see his hands. A rush of dizziness swept over him and as he tried to move he fell again. He’d also lost his sense of balance. Then he realized he was snow-blind.
Kody tried to stand up and again fell to the ice. Yes, that was it. He’d read about it happening to people and knew it was deadly. He couldn’t tell up from down because of the blinding snow. God, I’m in big trouble. Please, help me!
“Keep moving,” he ordered himself. Reaching forward, he dug his fingers into the snow and pulled his body along. The dizziness made him feel sick to his stomach.
“Help me, God!” His cry was swallowed up in the wind.
At that moment, Kody heard the deep resonant sound of the foghorn, located at the rescue station at the edge of the lake, just blocks from his house. Then he heard a voice speaking over the station’s public-address system. “Be careful. You’re very close to broken ice at the middle of the lake. Stay to the right and climb the concrete wall when you reach it.”
Kody opened his eyes, his heart racing with hope. The whiteout was as strong as ever, but somehow the man at the rescue station had seen him. Kody began slithering toward the voice inch by inch. Finally, he reached the wall. Peering through the storm, he saw the light ahead. He climbed over the retaining wall and felt his way through deep drifts of snow toward the door of the rescue station.
He saw the door open and could feel himself being pulled inside by a large bearded man, who helped him into a chair and offered him a mug of hot coffee.
“Thank you.” Kody was too stunned to say anything else, though his heart was full. Instead, he stared at the man who saved his life. Who was the guy? Normally the rescue station was closed for the winter.
The man looked intently at Kody. His eyes were crystal blue, a color Kody had never seen before. “You were lost out there and close to the open water, so I sounded the foghorn.”
“How could you see me?” Kody was still freezing.
“You asked for help. That’s my job.”
“Rescue worker, you mean?”
“You could say that. I needed to keep you safe.”
“Why are you here, anyway?”
“Doing research.” The man winked at him.
As they were speaking, the weather cleared. It had been seven hours since Kody left home, and he thought of his parents. “I better get going.” He stood and shook the man’s hand. “Thanks again. You saved my life.”
His parents were about to call the police when Kody walked into the house. They were at his side immediately. It took Kody ten minutes to tell his story.
“That’s impossible.” His father’s voice was gentle. “I went by the station the other day. It said, ‘Closed for winter October to April.’”
Frustration welled up in Kody. “Listen, I can still taste the coffee. The guy saved my life.”
Determined to find the man, Kody walked back to the rescue building the next morning. The station was locked tightly, a chain through its double doors. The back door was nearly buried under a three-foot-high snowdrift. It showed no signs of having been disturbed in weeks.
Baffled, Kody remembered that the county sheriff’s department ran the rescue station. He hurried home and called but was told no one had access to the rescue station. A call to the university told him that the county did not allow research at the station in the winter.
Kody hung up the phone and fell to his knees, weak with the realization that God had worked a miracle to save his life. And if God wanted his life saved, it must be so that he himself could go on to save the lives of others. And that meant going to college to study medicine. Just as he used to dream of doing when he was younger.
Today Kody is at medical school. And though he can’t prove it, he’s convinced that the man who saved his life was an angel. An angel sent to show him the way home… and the way to a future that God had planned for him all along.
Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths.
PSALM 25:4