Trapped in a Bathroom
“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’.” [Acts 16:9]
On November 19, 2010, a 69-year-old woman in Paris was found who had been trapped in her own bathroom for 20 days. The door lock had snapped off, and there was no window in the bathroom or a telephone at hand. She lived alone and was unable to summon help. But, she had the never-say-die attitude and resorted to a practical gimmick to draw attention. She kept banging the pipes with whatever she could find.
Her neighbors thought she was involved in some do-it-yourself renovation work and initially ignored the banging noises! But when the disturbances continued late into the night, neighbors complained they could not sleep. They decided to start a petition to have it stopped. But some neighbors realized they had not seen the grandmother in a few weeks. That is how they eventually came to investigate the woman’s apartment and rescued her. When firefighters broke into her second-floor flat they found her lying on the floor in the bathroom, badly malnourished and in a very weakened state. She had survived the ordeal with nothing but warm tap water for 20 days. The unnamed woman soon recovered in a local hospital.
In a similar way the Bible teaches we are surrounded by people who are trapped in sin and calling out for help… but maybe we don’t always recognize their signals. The apostle Paul once recognized a cry for help and responded. The Bible says, “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16:9,10).
Paul didn’t hesitate to help out when the Macedonians asked for assistance. We also should respond to the calls for help when people around us are dying for the message of the gospel. Would you be willing to break down doors to help your neighbors?
