THROUGH THE FOG

Those of you who know me might remember that many years ago I served in the U.S. Coast Guard.  As I have said before, I had no dream of becoming a fire fighter, EMT or anyone who “saved” folks when I was young.  I don’t think I had any special skills that would have caused the people who were in the command structure to think I would be better than anyone else in an emergency situation.  But somehow even though I was sent to diesel engine school, I ended up being stationed with a Search and Rescue team in Galveston, Texas. 

The way that system worked was very similar to the way a fire department works now.   There were crews who manned certain boats on any given day.  On each crew there was an engineer (that was the position I filled) who made sure the boat and equipment ran correctly.  The engineer also did the firefighting, rescue work. 

Then there was the “coxswain”.  This man was in charge of navigation to and from the emergency.  He managed the boat operations. 

The third man on the boat was called the “seaman”.  This man handled the lines, assisted the coxswain and when he could, assisted the engineer. 

I served with several coxswains during my time in the Coast Guard but I want to tell you about a specific time and a specific coxswain.

His name was Bruce and he was from Huntsville, Alabama. Bruce was a tall, thin, blonde guy.  He spoke in a very slow southern drawl.  Bruce had only been married for a short time and he and his wife lived together with a very excitable Chihuahua dog in a small apartment there on Galveston Island.  Although Bruce was probably one of the best coxswains in our unit the thing I remember most about him was the slow, deliberate, calm way he approached every situation.  I would be in full, wide open, hurry up, get-er done mode and Bruce would never change his tone or his speed. 

On this particular occasion I remember being sent from Galveston, North, up the Houston ship channel to search for a lost vessel.  The fog was so thick you could literally not see the bow from the stern on the 40 foot utility boat we were manning that day. 

Once we pulled out of the slip at Galveston and turned into the ship channel I had no idea where we were or how to get back to base.  That day I learned a few lessons in navigation.

I was at once ready to abort the mission and if at all possible, return to base. But Bruce broke out a chart.  This is a map for waterways.  He looked at the compass and at the chart and confidently guided our little boat from one buoy to the next. Although I had no idea where we were or how to get back and although none of us could see 40 feet fore or aft of us, Bruce had complete confidence in the chart and the compass and his ability to follow the instructions left for him.

I was not as confident in my coxswains ability.  I walked to the bow and stood there, peering into the white nothing-ness trying to see something, anything that would give me an idea as to which way we should go. 

"Just off the starboard bow" Bruce said, "should be a red boey.  Let me know when you see it"

And sure enough, in just a moment, there it was just like he said.  It didn't happen just once but over and over again.  Bruce would read the instructions, set the course and follow the compas and the next boey would be exactly where it was supposed to be. 

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As I sat in Wednesday night Bible study last week our pastor was explaining the story of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  He told of how they simply trusted in God for guidance.  He told how they resolutely followed the commands of God even though they had no idea where they were going or how to get there. 

They did not have the Bible to read in order to see what was ahead.  They could only trust in the promise of God.  They could only believe that the God who had promised was more than capable of fulfilling HIs promise.  They may have been “fogged in” by the situations and circumstances around them.  But by their faith in the One who drew the chart and the One who created the compas,  they prevailed.  

And you know, for a lot of those who have gone before, things didn't end well.  Hebrews 11 (The Faith Chapter) put it like this:

They had "...trials of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment;  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wondered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented....they wondered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, RECEIVED NOT THE PROMISE:  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect". 

Those people couldn't see through the fog any more than Bruce and I could back there in the Houston ship channel but they trusted in the promise and the Promis-er. 

Oh, that I could be like that.  But I want to see all the way to the end of the road before I make the first step. I want to be assured of the outcome before I commit.  I want a road with no bumps, pot-holes or ruts.

You know God doesn’t work that way don’t you? 

Did you catch the last part of that scripture? 

They were faithful.  They did what they were supposed to do.  They believed God.....BUT RECEIVED NOT THE PROMISE!  God had a better plan.  Their work, their faithfulness, their obedience COMBINED with ours is what God had in mind. 

So when things get tough for you and I, when we don't understand why problems and trials happen in our life.  I trust that we will add our name to the list of those faithful followers and know that we are fulfilling His plan.

I guess I’ve got a few folks to thank this morning because I’ve gotten a much clearer understanding of my place and part in the story of the Kingdom.  I have no way of knowing the whole story.  I have no way of seeing what will happen to me or my loved ones.  But I can take the chart and compass and trust in them to get me where I’m going.

Read the chart, trust the compass and set the course.  Have faith in the one who can see it all above the fog.

So thanks this morning to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all those un-named folk who have gone before, thanks to the pastor and thanks to Bruce for all combining to teach on old dog new tricks.  With your examples and instructions, and the promises and over-sight of the Great Commander, I think I can make it through the fog.