In 1914 Sir Earnest Shackleton took twenty-seven men and headed for the South Pole. Everything was put on hold, however, when the merciless ice pack crushed his ship, Endurance. A long, difficult journey brought the group to Elephant Island. Shackleton realized that if he did not go for help, they would die. Taking Frank Worsley and Crean, Shackleton —against all odds—took a small whaling boat and made it to South Georgia. But having arrived, their problems were only beginning.
They had to cross the island filled with 14,000-foot peaks with glaciers and snow-pack to a whaling settlement. Three routes were selected; three times they led to dead ends. Finally, they succeeded.
Describing their trek across South Georgia Island, Worsley wrote, “Whenever I reviewed the incidents of that march I had the subconscious feeling that there were four of us, instead of three. Moreover, this impression was shared by both Shackleton and Crean.” And who was the fourth? Worsley never said. Was it an angel? Was it the presence of the Lord, guiding, sustaining, and protecting? The fact is, they made it; and Shackleton saved every man.
Scores of individuals can testify that in difficult times God sustained them. Of the beautiful names of God revealed in the Scriptures, there is one that confirms this beautiful truth. Ezekiel calls God Jehovah Shammah, meaning “The God who is present.”
Jehovah Shammah, God who is present with us, can make all the difference. As Frank Worsley put it, “There was no doubt that Providence had been with us. It was a thing that has given me much food for thought, and which I have never been able to explain.”
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