The Great Exchange - The Golden Thread

I've been reading a novel, The Shack, lately. I'll post more on it later (along with the rest of blogsphere). But one of the lines in the book intersected with a story I read online recently.

In the book, the primary character is having a conversation with God. The conversation was dealing with one person's appreciation for what Jesus did for us and all of humanity. In the midst of the conversation on this idea of what Jesus did for us, God says this, "Stories about a person willing to exchange their life for another are a golden thread in your world, revealing both your need and my heart."

That is so true. Whether we find it in a book, in a movie, in a poem, on t.v., online or in real life, our eyes are opened and hearts are awakened to the reality that God in his great love did something absolutely amazing, profound, life changing, and beautiful when he gave His only begotten so to die on a cross for me. For you. For us.

Then I came across this story on ESPN.com written by Rick Riley. It's a great exchange story that reveals the golden thread of truth. Here is one glimpse of the story that stuck out to me:

After floating for 26 hours, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter spied a weak flashlight signal and rescued the bobbing five. All suffered severe sunburn and dehydration. Roger was found hours later, trapped in the boat. "He's gone," the Stones' son, Eric, posted on a sailing website. "He was a hero. He did his job as safety officer. He got those kids off the boat. He's in a better place now."

And that's about the moment Linda Stone realized that the man she married 18 years ago this week—in Veracruz, no less—was never coming home.

"I wish to God he were sitting next to me right now. But if he had saved himself and not those boys, I'd have a body next to me but not a person. He'd be an empty shell of a man. He did the right thing. And that gives me peace."

May it open your eyes and stir your heart to ponder on God's "right thing" he did for you and me that gives us peace.