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Coronavirus. Economic downturn. Financial pressures. Unemployment. Uncertainty about the immediate future.
Unsteady times. From 1973-77, I proudly served our country in the U.S Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. Two years of my four-year tour of duty, I served with the 3rd Marine Division. My role was to provide medical care and support for sailors and Marines. My claim to fame as a “sailor” is that I spent a total of seven days aboard ship! (I guess I was a land-lubing sailor). My shipboard experience consisted of being assigned to the sick bay aboard an LST (Landing Ship Troops) which was transporting 1,000 Marines and their equipment to Japan for military exercises. On my maiden Navy voyage, our ship got caught on the tail end of a typhoon. A typhoon is a hurricane in the Pacific Ocean. One hundred plus mile-an-hour winds, with 25 foot waves, battered the bow of our boat for twenty-four hours. At the height of the storm, the Captain ordered personnel to tie themselves into their bunk in the berthing quarters, anticipating a rough night. Roped in my bunk, feeling very seasick, I anxiously and prayerfully rode out the storm as it tossed our ship up, down, and sideways like a cork. In the morning, our Commanding Officer announced to the troops that the ship had almost rolled over during the night. Comforting thought when you are still plowing holes in an ocean that could turn into a raging sea of destruction on a moment’s notice. I was thankful to God for sparing our ship and lives. I was also very grateful that our Captain manned his post on the bridge, steering us to safety. When the life-threatening storm looked like it would swamp the ship, sending it down to Davey Jones locker, I have a hunch the Captain uttered the words “steady as she goes”. Probably more than once, you think? I believe “steady” at the helm got us through to the other side of nature’s unbridled, ferocious fury that literally threatened our lives. My friend, ff you are only half-awake, you know how unsteady, insecure and unstable our culture and world is. Terribly troubling, manmade typhoons are tearing away at the very foundations of our Judeo- Christian country. Unsteady as she goes seems to be the mindless, heartless, senseless direction we are heading as a nation. Many have lost their way, doing what is wrong when they should be doing what is right. (See Isaiah 5:20-24). Unsteady times like ours call for steadiness. I greatly admire and respect people who are steady, stable and secure when life’s storms roll across the horizon. “Steady as she goes” folks have a way of bringing peace in chaos, order in disorder, clarity in confusion, comfort in discomfort, hope in dark times, and triumph in tragedy. I thank God for people He has used throughout my life that brought steadiness when I was unsteady, unstable and insecure. I desire to be a steadfast Christian who is steady at the helm when all “hell” seems to break loose in life. Seven Steps to Steady As She Goes
Feeling unsteady? Insecure? Uncertain? Maybe unstable? Focus your faith on the Lord. Look to Him. He alone is our Rock, our Fortress, our Shelter, our Shield, our Stronghold, and our Deliverer. (Psalm 18:1-3). During a very turbulent, trying, tough time in his life, King David, a man after God’s own heart, cried out to the Lord “Create in me a clean heart, Oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10. David asked the Lord to steady his heart in a life storm. Jesus is the Captain of our salvation who knows how to take us safely through life’s storms. Steadfast. Steady or unsteady: My choice. Your choice. Which will you and I choose? “He will not fear evil tidings, His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” Psalm 112:7 “My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing, yes, I will sing Your praises.” Psalm 57:7 A Word For Your Week: Steadfast faith in Jesus Christ keeps us steady in an unsteady world. |
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