A hole too deep …

People around the world rejoiced Tuesday at the news that all 12 members of the Thai Wild Boars youth soccer team, along with their coach (as pictured above), were safely rescued from a harrowing 18-day ordeal of being trapped deep within a cave.

One report summarized the dangerous situation like this:

“The Thai Royal Navy is trying to extricate a youth soccer team that has been stranded in a flooded cave for almost two weeks, drawing international attention and concern. The 12 boys on the team, called the Wild Boars, range from age 11 to age 16, and their coach is 25 years old. They have been in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave since June 23, when they went exploring after soccer practice and became trapped by heavy rains flooding the cave’s entrance. They were found more than a mile inside the cave on Monday, 9 days after they were first trapped, by two expert cave divers from the UK.”

To understand the danger and difficulty of this story, you have to realize this was no simple cave with a flooded area. This graphic helps give perspective to the problem:

Extricating the boys and their coach from their perilous position would involve a complex rescue mission, as illustrated in the following two graphics:

Tragically, during rescue operations, former Thai Navy SEAL Saman Gunan, a highly trained diver who volunteered for the rescue mission, died during an excursion to place oxygen canisters along the route to where the boys and others were sheltered.

But in the end, all 12 boys and their coach were safely brought out!

As people followed the reports of this dramatic story, I think we all likely shared the thought that we simply couldn’t imagine going through such a terrible experience. But in a “bigger picture” take on this story, there’s something many of us could relate to: the trouble of falling into “a hole too deep.”

A HOLE TOO DEEP
There are times in life when some people “fall into a hole” too deep to be able to get out of on their own. In order for them to get out of the pit they find themselves in, they must have help — a “rescue” of sorts must be made. Unfortunately, rare are the brave souls, like Saman Gunan, who will see the need and volunteer to rescue those in a “hole too deep.”

Jesus told a story recorded in Luke 10:30-37 most of us are familiar with that’s known as the story of the “Good Samaritan.” Here’s the introduction to that story:

“Jesus replied with a story: ‘A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road,'” Luke 10:30.

You might say the fellow in this story had fallen into “a hole too deep” to get out of on his own. To survive, he would need someone to get him off the road (out of the “hole” of his tragedy) and nurse him back to health.

Initially, no one was volunteering …

“By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side,” Luke 10:31-32.

When we read this story, it’s easy to see the inappropriate lack of care demonstrated by those who walked by a half-dead man alongside a road. But the same kind of callous disinterest is shown by many today who see people in their lives who have fallen into a hole too deep to get out of on their own … but they walk on by. They leave the person — whether they be family, friend, acquaintance, or stranger — in the hole to be someone else’s problem.

Not everyone makes it out.

Occasionally, a caring person steps forward, like the Samaritan in Jesus’ story …

“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here,'” Luke 10:33-35.

Jesus didn’t tell this story to be entertaining, but to use it to instruct US to be aware of, and rescue, those who have fallen into a hole too deep to get out of on their own …

“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?’ Jesus asked. The man replied, ‘The one who showed him mercy.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Yes, now go and do the same,'” Luke 10:36-37.

WE’VE ALL BEEN IN A HOLE TOO DEEP
Maybe you’ve never gone through troubles so hard you had to have help to get out of them (at least, not yet), but every human being knows the experience of being in a hole too deep to get out of on their own — that is, the hole of sin …

“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard,” Romans 3:23.

Every human living and who has ever lived has fallen into the pit of sin, and there is nothing any of us could do to get out of it on our own. Unless we had a hero to rescue us, we would suffer the consequences of death … we had to have a savior!

One was provided …

“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners,” Romans 5:6-8.

Jesus gave His life so that we might have life! He plucked us from our “hole too deep”! Like the words of David in Psalm 40:2, “He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along,” God has rescued us from doom and despair!

Now, as His children, we’re to go and do likewise — we’re to rescue those who have fallen into a hole too deep to get out of on their own.

All of us know (or will come across) people who are in a hole too deep to get out of on their own — what are you doing to help those people you know of? You may not have the resources, skills, training, etc., to rescue them by yourself, but at the very least you can rally fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to pool together what’s needed to lift people out of their holes, to get them off the roadside, to nurse them “health,” and especially, to lead them to Jesus who can save them from the pit of sin.

Are you, like your Lord, a rescuer, or are you watching the drama and tragedy of other people’s lives as those who watched these young Thai boys’ story on the news? Who can you be a “Good Samaritan” to, or do you walk by the suffering and dying?

“For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps,” 1 Peter 2:21.

Scotty