Kursk

In August of 2000, the Russian submarine Kursk was wracked by two onboard explosions and tragically sank to the bottom of the Barrants Sea. There is controversy regarding what actually happened, but the most likely option is that one of their torpedoes was faulty and exploded on board resulting in a fire in the torpedo room that caused the second explosion. All but 23 of the original 118 crew members died in the explosions. It was five hours before the Russian navy even tried to contact the sub resting on the bottom of the sea. The crew, freezing cold and desperate for oxygen and food, weighted anxiously for rescue. Four failed attempts were made to rescue the crew. They stayed alive for at least three days, banging on the walls of the sub every hour to let the world know they were still alive. They listened to the rescue ship land and take off four times. At least two of the crew wrote letters, saying they were trapped and couldn’t get out. 

Unfortunately, they never would. 

Nine days after the explosion, divers were able to access the compartment where the 23 men had held on for as long as they could. There were no survivors.

It’s a tragic story of political failure and a myriad of mistakes. I hurt at the thought of what those men went through on the ship, waiting for rescue only to run out of time. How many of us feel like that in our lives? Desperate for help yet feeling unheard. Banging on the walls of our cage to try to escape. Hoping against hope that we can make it. Make it out. Make it out alive. Running out of air, feeling the cold seep through us, anxious and starving. The people in our life that we trusted to keep us from drowning can’t find the solutions fast enough so we are trapped.

Right now, it's easy to feel like a soldier on the Kursk. The explosions that keep hitting us leave us, our economy, our plans, and our nation sinking fast. Maybe we feel like we've hit rock bottom, hundreds of pounds of pressure keeping us stuck in our sunken world. We cry out and listen for a response but know that the world can't rescue us. The hours pass by and more plans disintegrate in the current that swept us off our feet. In this world that looks hopeless it's easy to feel ourselves beginning to sink away into the darkness of despair. But we are not a tragic story of failure and a myriad of mistakes. We are not simply the soldiers of the Kursk: we are survivors.

Christians have been given an instruction manual for every situation, one that speaks to the desperation of their circumstances yet still gives hope. For us, it is no longer a matter of waiting on others for rescue, but rather accepting the solution that has already been given. We have already been rescued. Death is behind us, not in front of us because we already died with Christ and have a new life in Him.

The One who is an anchor for our soul is with us even at this depth. Even when our tears threaten to drown us I know that He counts every one. Our world is very clearly a ship that is sinking fast, but we have everything we need for life and godliness already. Cling to it, and you will be more than a conqueror in Him Who loves you.