The group spent an uncomfortable night sleeping on the floor of the shack, and when morning came, they woke up and wondered what they should do next. The shack was on a small area that was not burned by the wildfire, but it was like an island in the middle of a burnt area that stretched as far as they could see! There were many fallen tree trunks that were still smoldering, and the air was full of smoke. There seemed to be no way to safely get out of the area!
The teenage boy climbed onto the roof of the shed so that he could have a better view. The view from the top of the shed was just as bad! There was no safe way to get out through the burnt area! They did not have enough food to last much longer, and the little girl had a high fever when she woke up that morning! They somehow needed to get her to a doctor!
The group talked over the choices they had to get to safety and get the little girl to a doctor. The old man and the teenage boy were the strongest, maybe they could try to walk through the burnt area. They decided that this would not work; their shoes would not last long walking on that hot ground covered with smoldering pieces of wood, they would not have any food, and they probably would not find any water! They would likely die before getting through the burnt area! The group also decided that they were going to stay together, no matter what happened!
The teenage boy suggested that all of them try to walk up the stream that was by the shack. They would be in the cool water, so they would not burn their feet, and they would have plenty to drink. This seemed like the best idea, so they immediately began walking down the stream hoping that it would take them out of the burnt area. They had walked about a half mile when they noticed that the stream was getting very shallow! They went just a little further and found that the stream was completely dried up and the dry streambed was filled with half-burnt smoking logs and branches. The smoke was thick, and they all began coughing, and the little girl could not stand the heat from the fire!
They turned around and went back to the shack and then tried going up the stream in the other direction. They went around the first curve in the stream and found the way completely blocked by huge trees that had fallen across the stream. The parts of the trees that were above the water were burning and there was incredible heat! The group hurried back to the shack!
There did not seem to be anything else to do! There was no way to leave the shack and get safely out of the burnt area. The little girl’s fever was getting worse!
Just then they heard a noise! At first, they were not sure what was making the noise, but soon it was obvious that the noise was made by a helicopter! There was a helicopter flying over the burnt area looking for people that needed to be rescued! The teenage boy scrambled back onto the roof of the shack and began jumping, waving his arms, and yelling! The rest of the group stayed on the ground and did the same thing!
As the helicopter got closer, the people in the helicopter saw them! The helicopter flew to the shack and hovered over them! There was no safe place to land the helicopter, so they lowered a rope with a harness attached to it. One by one each person in the group put on the harness and was raised up into the helicopter! When all of them were in the helicopter, the helicopter headed for a hospital! While they were flying, they could see how large the wildfire had been, and they realized that they could never have gotten out without help!
The helicopter landed at the hospital and dropped them off, then the helicopter flew back into the burnt area to look for more people that needed to be rescued!
The young girl was checked by doctors and given medicine to take away the fever and help her get well. They were all going to stay together in the hospital that night. They called friends and family members to come and get them the next day!
That evening before they went to sleep, the old man took out his Bible and told them that he wanted to have one more talk with them about God. He told them that their rescue that day had reminded him of something in the Bible.
Jesus was talking to his disciples about the end times and in Matthew 24:4-7 He said:
Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.
The old man reminded the group that things are changing very quickly in the world. People are believing that God’s Word is not true, and the enemy (Satan) is twisting lies together and convincing people that the lies are truth! A lot of countries are at war or threatening to go to war. There has been an increase in natural disasters such as earthquakes and wildfires. Many people feel trapped because it seems impossible to escape from the crazy times that we are living in.
Just like the group was trapped by the burnt area and could not escape, it seems hopeless. But when the group heard the helicopter and looked up, they saw their rescue coming to get them! The Bible teaches that one day Jesus will return and rescue the believers from the terrible things that will happen when God brings judgment on this mixed up and evil world!
In the Bible in I Thessalonians 4:16-18 it says:
For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.
In the Bible in I Corinthians 15:51-53 it says:
But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.
Our rescue from this crazy world is coming! We cannot rescue ourselves, only Jesus can rescue us! Look up and keep watching, it could be today!