HMS Titanic

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? (Luke 15:4)

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. (Revelation 20:13)

Just one of the horrors forced on the survivors of the Titanic sinking was seeing children die. Gosta Leonard Palsson, was seen being washed overboard.

The body of the two-year-old boy’s mother, Alma, was recovered. Her pockets contained all four tickets for her children.

Today, it was announced that researchers believe they have identified one of the unknown children buried at Halifax, Nova Scotia, after members of the vessel Mackay-Bennett located a few hundred bodies from the waters that closed over Titanic.

The infant apparently isn’t Gosta Palssen, but rather Sidney Leslie Goodwin, fair-haired 19-month-old.

Their deaths and re-entry into the news cycle 99 year after the disaster, call to mind a marvelous prophecy from the Bible, one that is yet future.

In the closing chapters of Revelation, we read that everyone matters to God. This is a dominant theme in Scripture, and one that fascinates me.

Reading the works of Josephus, one is privy to details from ancient battles. But how often do we stop to think about the individuals who took part in those almost-forgotten battles? A Babylonian father. An Egyptian officer. And the modern accounts: the gates of hell at Stalingrad, or the Battle of the Bulge. Those were human beings who perished. Almost 40 million died in World War II alone.

Only God knows all of them. But that is precisely the point.

According to the biblical accounts, we live in a fallen, broken world. More than that, it is “groaning” under the weight of sin. We are not rocketing toward some blissful “Omega” point. We are all passengers on a badly damaged vessel that is gashed in its bowels.

Jesus Christ tells us that He is coming back. I delight in knowing that He also knows every “forgotten,” pitiable person left by history and survivors. Those baby girls and boys on Titanic, and their parents, were known to God.

Jesus assures us that when one of us goes missing, He leaves the secure group and goes in search until He finds the one. This is so comforting!

Bible prophecy has rich practical applications, because through it, God tells us not only what is going to happen, but that He keeps His word.

One day the sea will give up its dead and Gosta Leonard Palsson will be known again.

Do you ever wonder if God has forgotten you? Do you feel alone, shivering in the cold void?

He has not forgotten you. You are not alone.