(Ben Pollock, Gabriel Pollock (son), Jordan Stokes (cousin), Frank Doolin (cousin), Michael Doolin (Franks son)


SHIPWRECKED


It was May 22, 2004, a beautiful sunny day, you know the type of day, when the sky is clear and the ocean is calm. A perfect day for going out deep and getting those big fish!!! And that’s just what we proceeded to do. We had worked on the boat motor for weeks for such a day as this. The boat was loaded and we left out at sunrise. We charted our course and headed out to sea. Practically everywhere we stopped we caught fish. Everything seemed to be perfect. In between fishing, we swam and just had an all around great day.

But like every great day, this one was coming to an end. We charted our course back to the marina in Hudson, Florida.

As we were leaving the last reef, 25 miles offshore, we realized that the inner hull had an excessive amount of water that we were unable to extract from the boat. The feelings of “This Isn’t Good” started reeling in my mind. If we had only known how serious this situation was at this point, we might have been able to change the outcome.

This is the same as a person living without the Lord Jesus Christ. There’s always that sickening feeling that something is wrong, but not exactly sure how to correct it or how serious it is about to get.

Back to the boat…… things went from bad to worse. As we were trying to rid the boat of water, one of the fuel tanks went dry, at the worse moment. For it was not an easy procedure to switch tanks. During this process the rear of the boat began filling with water & sliding backwards into the grasp of the vast Gulf.

In the seconds that had occurred, those orders that no ship captain ever wants to make, had to go out. “Prepare to Abandon Ship, grab the life jackets and anything that will float.” As I was reaching for the flares, and the water at my knees, the boat rolled. We only had a few minutes of heroic efforts to get whatever might help us through this night. We knew that no one would be looking for us until well after dark and the odds of being seen at night were very slim.

The boat sank completely to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. And what WAS a perfect day is now five men, tied together, floating, in a vast ocean with 100 dead fish and a little debris, looking at each other wondering what just happened, knowing that we were nothing but shark bait amongst the dead fish. We started swimming east, away from the fish and what WAS our boat.

With not another boat on the horizon to rescue us and the sun about to set, here we are with two Igloo coolers and the emergency supplies we retrieved. With the futility of swimming to shore which we could not even see, we wait and pray for help.

As the night came upon us, a new horror in the story revealed itself. Our body heat was escaping rapidly and the realization that even though we might survive being eaten by sharks, we might not survive hypothermia.

Being the ship captain, and having the guilt of knowing that I am responsible for having everyone in this position, one of the young men asked a question. “Why am I here and why did I come?” Seeing their bodies being tormented more and more by the water that had been so pleasant earlier in the day, now draining the life out of them, how do I muster up enough courage to even answer? The situation looked so bleak and hopeless that I just wanted to end it all and not carry the guilt of seeing these young men die, one by one, in front of me.

You may be going through a situation that seems hopeless, but you can have the assurance of all eternity and that there is no hopeless situation, for in this case each one of these young men were Christians. We have a hope and a peace that passes all understanding.

The truth is that God is the creator of all things and the giver of life. And He alone gives life and takes it away.

And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb and naked shall I return thither: The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
Job 1:21

To deal with tribulation in ones life, he cannot draw on world theology and emotion or any other doctrine that is apart from God’s truth for the Lord Jesus Christ said:

I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6

This statement is not up for debate. Either it is true in your life or it is not. One has to have an anchor to hold his life in place.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
II Timothy 3:16

The Holy Bible is the only book that you can set your course in life by. No other book has God’s approval through the centuries except the Holy Scriptures. So when you have diversity in your life, the only way to bring peace to your troubled heart is to draw from the truths in God’s Word. You cannot trust man or anything man has to say that is apart from God’s truth. For there can only be one truth.

As we were praying, the reality of the situation came to my mind through scripture that I had memorized through the years, that if we died, we would immediately be ushered into the presence of God and escape the torment of the flesh or if we lived that God knew the exact situation that we were in and He would see us through it. Luke 12:7 says, But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are more value than many sparrows.

The Bible says that we do not know what a day may bring. Today is the day of salvation. We had taken God at His Word that we are all sinners in need of a savior.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10: 9-10

The truth of our lives is that we can bring nothing to God but to glorify Him with the truth of His own words. That is the underlying message in Psalm 50.

That night we were not delivered from the torment of the flesh. As so many of God’s saints in the past suffered, so we all too will suffer in this life. Jonah suffered horribly, three days and nights in the belly of a fish, and God used the message of that suffering to describe His own agony and torment that He would go through for us on the cross, for the redemption of our sin.

And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee and thou shalt glorify me.
Psalm 50:15

We believed the words of Psalm 50:15 were God’s words and are true. During the night we sang God’s praises and stood on His truth, and we were changed forever. After spending 14 hours in the chilling waters of the Gulf of Mexico, we were rescued the next morning by surprised fishermen that we had prayed for.

As Jonah went through Nineveh and cried, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”, we do not know whether or not we have forty days. Do you trust God’s words for your salvation or the hopes of your own? The price of eternity is not worth the risk! Seek the Lord and you shall find Him. That is His promise to you.

Ben Pollock
Thepollockfamily10@gmail.com
I would rejoice in sharing with you about God’s word or hearing what God has done in your life.
May you ever cling to the Savior as your Anchor!!