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Did you know that Melville’s Moby Dick was loosely based on a true story? In 1819, the whaling ship, Essex, left port from Nantucket to sail to the Pacific Ocean via Cape Horn. The crew took several whales without incident. Then one day, a massive whale hit the ship head-on. The giant then dove under the ship, turned and attacked it a second time. This time from the rear. The crew had to abandon their ship. From their lifeboats, the sailors watched as their livelihood sank beneath the waters. The first mate later wrote that “the leviathan struck with ten-fold fury and vengeance.”
The Essex crew knew disaster. Their lives were put in peril. Then there was the difficult path back home. Even worse, they would arrive penniless and considered failures.
We might not have to fight a giant beast full of fury, but there are plenty of things that can cause hard times. In all these difficult situations, we need to remember the Lord’s promise: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
Larry Fitzgerald
Woodlawn church of Christ
Abilene, TX