In the movie “Apollo Thirteen,” astronauts’ trip to the moon was aborted because of a breakdown of critical equipment on the spacecraft. When the crew miraculously got back to earth, one was asked whether he had ever been more scared.

He told of a time when, as pilot of a fighter jet on a combat mission, in the dark of night, his homing equipment went out and although he was near his carrier, he had no way to see the blacked-out ship. As he made plans to ditch in the dark ocean with no way to be rescued, all the lights in his cockpit went out. He was now totally in the dark. But he remembered that a moving ship leaves a luminous wake in the water, and as he looked down, he was able to spot that glow in the water trailing his carrier, which allowed him to come in behind the carrier close enough that the landing officer could give him landing instructions by lighted paddle signals.

If the lights in his cockpit had not gone out, he would have never been seen again!

And so folks, here’s another example of how a bad thing can happen, ultimately causing a good thing to come of it. I’ve talked to you at other times about this, and it can give us hope in the darkest times.

When life’s problems seem too much, talk to the Lord about them. Just talk as you would to a friend you can reach out and touch. Because He’s there, even though you can’t see Him. That time passed as is recorded in the first books of the Bible’s New Testament. Now, we accept Him by faith. And Christ said that people who accept Him without actually seeing Him, show more faith than those who walked with Him and listened to Him when he walked the dusty paths in Galilee.

If you haven’t given your heart to Him, now is a good time to do it. He has said that if you believe that Jesus is the Christ and you’re sorry for past sins, and want to turn over a new leaf, just do it, and you’ll immediately be one of His own. There’s no larger decision to be made at any time, anywhere.

37BT Bill Thornton June 16, 2007