Shackleton's Promise Kept

In April 1916, Ernest Shackleton stood on the rocky shore of Elephant Island and made a promise to his twenty-two stranded men: "I will come back for you." Then he climbed into a twenty-two-foot lifeboat and sailed into the most treacherous ocean on earth.

His men could do nothing but wait. They couldn't help navigate the 800 miles of frozen, heaving seas between Elephant Island and South Georgia. They couldn't steady the tiny boat through hurricane-force winds. They couldn't haul Shackleton over the unmapped mountains he'd have to cross to reach the whaling station. The entire burden of keeping that promise fell on one man's shoulders.

For over four months, those men huddled under overturned boats, surviving on seal meat and hope — hope built entirely on Shackleton's word. And on August 30, 1916, a ship appeared on the horizon. Shackleton had kept his promise. Every man survived.

In Genesis 15, God makes a covenant with Abram — but it is unlike any ancient treaty. Normally both parties walked between the divided animals, accepting the consequences of breaking the agreement. But God put Abram into a deep sleep. Then El Shaddai alone — as a smoking firepot and blazing torch — passed between the pieces. The Almighty took the entire obligation upon Himself. Abram's part was simply to believe.

Like those men on Elephant Island, we contribute nothing to the covenant except our trust. God shoulders every promise, every consequence, every cost — and He always comes back.