In the Nick of Time

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Before I start exams, I ask students if they have any last requests- glass of water, crust of bread, or platoon of marines to rescue them in the nick of time. All of them hope for some greater power to swoop in and rescue them, because that's a natural reaction for humans in a troubling situation. Fact of the matter is, many situations in life are troubling, and we count down the seconds watching, waiting, and hoping for something to come in that last second and rescue us from ourselves, from our enemies, and from powers that confound us because we happen to be there when they act. It's usually too late by then, because the opportunities for rescue are offered all the time, not just when the last seconds tick away. It's often our fault we stand there hoping in that last moment for a rescue. It's the entire point of what we believe in worshipping that higher power- that at a special time and for all time rescue occurs, for great things and small things because that's why there is a Higher Power.

Although common in fiction, it is rare that rescue comes right in the last minute. Pardons come a few minutes late, the weather clears after the band already packed up and drove home, and you win a scholarship contest during your last semester of college. Usually, opportunities abound in advance to help you not only avoid bad circumstances but also to avail yourself of other positive opportunities. The story is told of a man who asked God to rescue him during a flood. After turning away a helicopter, a motor boat, and a raft, he drown and complained to God that he wasn't rescued. God told him, "I sent you a helicopter, a motor boat, and a raft. What else did you want?" Most of our rescues, I hypothesize, come in ways that we do not even know we are being rescued or saved from calamity. Years ago, while on my way to Sacramento, I stopped on the on-ramp to help an older woman change a flat tire. That delayed me enough that a large accident just east of Sacramento only slowed my progress. I cannot say I would have been caught up in it, but it was not a worry because I made another choice and rescued someone else. In doing so, I may have rescued myself too.

Usually, rescue comes too late because we decide to procrastinate. I knew last September that something was wrong in my house. The AC was loud. The fan was squeaky. The air didn't seem as cold as I expected it to be. Then, it cooled off, winter came, and months of beautiful weather went by. Then, I worked FAR more sections than I should and didn't have time. So, I'm lucky that I decided to take care of this just before a huge and historic heat wave decided to blanket the west in warmth. Thursday, it's supposed to hit 107F, meaning it will be uncomfortable when he gets here to install the unit, but that's better than 111F, which it's supposed to hit this weekend. Good thing I didn't procrastinate any longer! I'm still young, and like many other young people, I think I have plenty of time for this, that and the other. How tragic is it then, when young people procrastinate opportunities until it's too late. How tragic is it for those who, while young, defy virtue, morality, and the commandments, and die without taking the chance to repent, change their direction, and repair the damage.

When we are saved in the nick of time, it is usually divine. I am not saying that God intervenes to make sure we are snatched from the jaws of stupidity, but I'm old enough to know that coincidence is usually an illusion. I don't think it's coincidence that THIS time I actually not only remembered to call but actually made the call so that the parts could arrive and be installed before I suffered needlessly. I recall one night riding the train home from Vienna as a missionary when I awoke in the train just in time to catch the announcement that we were pulling into our stop. I flew to the window and threw up the sash and told my greenie that we needed to debark the train immediately. It wasn't a matter of life or death; it saved us riding all the way to Salzburg, waiting an hour, and taking a train back and arriving after midnight. I cannot tell you how many times I have felt impressions that turned out to be wise. God's hand is very evident in my life, which is why I continue in the path I walk. I have seen His hand, however figuratively, and I know He knows it, and I cannot deny it.

God blesses us all the time, just not usually in the timing or manner we might hope. However, the things that matter to us matter to Him because WE matter to Him. I do not intend to suggest we trouble Him with the trivialities of life- our wardrobe, our diet, what car to buy, which campsite to pick, etc., but if something bothers us, He will help us because He loves us. He sent His son in "the nick of time" to save us from sin, and He will send His angels in the nick of time to save us from the foibles and feebles of mortality if we ask. All of our worship, all of our ministry exists to remind us to go up higher, to look up higher, and to believe in something higher than ourselves. It tells us that failure and falling are inevitable. It tells us that we are in need of rescue and more importantly that we are WORTHY of rescue. It invites us when we struggle to look upward and when we fall to seek mercy. That special Nick of Time in the Meridian of Time, that moment in which He hung, makes it so that we do not have to hang for a moment, for any moment, let alone for all time. We will be saved in the nick of time, and these events in our lives remind us of that truth, that when it really matters, He will step in and rescue us.