For those who followed the brilliant rescue mission of the two American F-15E pilots and the heroic rescue mission behind enemy lines in Iran, you may have heard the very first words uttered by the Weapon Systems Officer once he ejected and turned on his communication device. He was not yet rescued, but made this statement via his transponder:

God is good!

I just wonder what our first words are when we face life’s most challenging trials! This brave airman had just been shot at, endured the brutal ejection (up to 20 G’s of force) from the cockpit of a fighter jet, landed behind enemy lines, had hundreds of bloodthirsty Iranian maniacs craving an American hostage, and climbed a 7,000-foot ridge on a significantly wounded leg. Apparently, all before making encrypted radio contact with appropriate American military commanders. God bless that warrior!

But there is something equally as meaningful as the pilot’s first words following that harrowing experience.

That F-15E was on a mission above the skies of Iran on Friday when he took what conceivably could have been a deadly hit. He then spent Saturday hidden away in the crevice of a ridge and was eventually rescued on Sunday.

While I stop short of making a dogmatic assertion that this was a Christophany, I do find it apropos that the enemy tried to kill him on Good Friday, that he spent Saturday hidden away in the dark crevice of a ridge, and that he was rescued on Resurrection Sunday. What a glorious picture of Satan’s attempt to eliminate our Savior on Good Friday, Jesus’ descension into hell on Saturday, and His glorious resurrection on Sunday!

I don’t believe in coincidence. The timing and details of this incident are not by accident, and in God’s divine sovereignty over our days, He chose this scenario to play out exactly how and when it did!

That brave airman acknowledged it and we can all agree: God is good!