Lessons from a Fisherman, a Hostage & a Soldier

Tents of Mercy Congregation

Kiryat Yam, Israel

Each of us has struggles, crises, and moments of wanting to quit. Sometimes it feels just too hard to handle what life is throwing at you. After 20 months of war, most Israelis have felt this way a time or two.

So, when I saw this guy in a wheel chair, fishing the Haifa Bay, I was impressed. But then, my admiration grew even more: when his motorized chair angled toward me, I saw that he had only one leg.

What did it take for this intrepid individual to overcome the life-limiting loss of his leg? What was the process by which he took hold of himself and found new ways to live a fulfilling life?

I have no idea. Not wanting to interrupt his peaceful moment of sea-gazing, I went on my way. But not before a sobering realization. This gentleman’s example challenges my moments of discouragement and lack of fortitude. And…his example raises a question.

What does it take to overcome?  

An answer is embedded in the word “courage.” It comes from the Latin “cor,” simply meaning “heart.” At the core of our being – we need to receive the inner strength to rise above the situations that oppress and oppose us.

David, finding that Ziklag had been burned, all the women and children taken captive, wept bitterly. He was “greatly distressed” and about to be stoned by his grieving men. “But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God” (1Samuel 30:6).

His back to the wall, threatened with mutinous execution, looking at a seemingly hopeless situation, David turned to God. He made a choice. Rather than running away or sinking into depression, he accessed the strength of his God in the midst of failure. Then, after inquiring of the Most High, he pursued the Amalekites and rescued all that they had carried away.

This is the same choice that Keith Siegal made. An American-Israeli who spent 484 days in the dungeon tunnels of Gaza, he was locked in a room, alone, for half a year. Siegel began praying, “just connecting with God” through the “Sh’ma” declaration of Deuteronomy 6:4. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart...” Siegal and other released Israeli hostages are testifying that they survived by turning to God during their endless days in hellish conditions.

Meiron Gersch was a soldier who gave his life at the mouth of a Gaza tunnel, after overcoming setbacks to qualify for an elite IDF unit. A favorite saying of his was: “There is no ‘can’t.’ Change the way you think. Struggle and achieve the goal.” Years ago, one of his educators asked Meiron what he was aiming for. Meiron answered as high as you can go and beyond. I believe that Meiron achieved those aims. How can you appreciate the value of a life story of just 21 years? It’s not the length of a life that is important, but the content.

I’m provoked by these three men. I encourage you to gather God’s statements about overcoming and be strengthened in your heart. Here are just a few:

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.” (Revelation 12:11) 

“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble… The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” (Psalm 46:1, 7)

SUPPORT NOW