There was an interesting
story featured in Smithsonian magazine
a few years ago about how a small compass saved the lives of some sailors.
During World War II, Waldemer
Semenov was serving as a junior engineer on the American merchant ship SS Alcoa Guide. On April 16, 1942, the
ship was sailing from New Jersey to the Caribbean when a German submarine surfaced
and opened fire. Even though the SS Alcoa
Guide had no guns and wasn’t being escorted, it didn’t matter. The Germans
were using the merchant vessel as target practice. After a torpedo struck the
hull, the SS Alcoa Guide caught fire
and started to sink 300 miles off the coast of North Carolina.
Semenov and the rest of
the crew scrambled into to a wooden lifeboat and an inflatable raft. Half the
men made into a wood lifeboat and the other half into a rubber raft.
Fortunately, the lifeboat came equipped with a small compass. Semenov and his
fellow crew members used the compass to sail west by northwest toward the
shipping lanes. After three days, a patrol plane, searching for sailors,
spotted Semenov's lifeboat. The next day the USS Broome rescued the men on the lifeboats. In contrast, it took
three weeks to find the inflatable raft, which was drifting aimlessly in the
ocean with only one survivor barely clinging to life. In all, thanks to that little
compass, Semenov and 26 other crew members from the SS Alcoa Guide survived.[1]
In a survival scenario
like this, having a compass can save your life. It’s a trustworthy device to
tell you what direction to go. The same is true for our spiritual lives. When
you are out in the wilderness fending for yourself that’s when we have to stand
on His infallible Word like never before. We don’t have to guess or drift
around aimlessly, God’s Word gives us guidance and direction in every season of
life.
The psalmist reminded
God’s people that His Word was a trustworthy “compass.” He likened it to a
lamp. In that day, the flickering light cast by an olive oil lamp was only
bright enough to show a traveler his next step. The Psalmist wrote, “Thy word
is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105). Likewise, God’s
word gives us enough light to see far enough to take the next step.
The only problem is that
many people don’t consult the Bible until it’s too late. We don’t have the
luxury of stopping in the middle of a crisis and saying, “Hold on, let me find
a chapter and verse for this.” The best way to prepare for the wilderness testing
that is sure to come our way is to be in the book right now, so that when you
enter into that time of trial you are equipped with God’s wisdom already and
you aren’t fumbling around trying to figure it out as you go. -DM
[1]
Owen Edwards, “A Compass Saves the Crew,” Smithsonian,
September 2009, <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-compass-saves-the-crew-40699276/>
.
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