11.15.09 // Our Point Lima, a Story of Trust

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Prov 3:5-6

We saw the importance of trust last week particularly in the matter of pain and suffering. When we fail to trust the Lord we are in effect questioning His character, doubting His Word. As Christians we loosely throw the word trust around like a rag doll – “Just trust God,” like it is the panacea to every thing we don’t perceive as good. But it is! And it’s good biblical advice. So why don’t we do it? 

Trust is an all-weather term like thanks; we trust God and give thanks to God in sunshine or the storm (Prov 3:5-6; Eph 5:20; Col 2:7; cf. Job 1:21; Jonah 2:9). It is not occasional; it is continual, 24/7/365. Why so, because there is never a moment when we are not under the watchful eye of Yahweh who shall neither slumber or sleep (Psa 121:1-8). Our trust and thanks are based upon the character of God as revealed in the Scriptures. Undermine the Scriptures through unbelief and ingratitude and you undermine your trust and thankfulness toward God. 

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
He'll never, no never desert to his foes.
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
He'll never, no never, no never forsake!

—Richard Keen (1787)

The fact of the matter is that we don’t always give thanks to God (unthankful, ungrateful); and we don’t always trust in God (mistrust, unbelief). In these moments our attitude towards God is that He is unthankworthy or untrustworthy; and our behavior must follow suit. Anything in the life of a believer that is not from faith is sin (Rom 14:3; Jas 4:14). We must come to the point where we agree with God that our attitude/behavior is an affront to His holiness (1 Jn 1:9). When we reach that conclusion, fellowship (not salvation) is restored; we move on in faith and obedience to His will, His way, His Word in defiance of the circumstances.

We know as believers we are supposed to trust in God (isn’t that what a believer is, a truster?). But it is like what Steve Brown said,  

“But sometimes telling someone to trust God is like telling a drowning man or woman, ‘Just swim.’ He or she already knows that” (Keylife.org, “Everything Else is Small Stuff!”). 

Maybe, just maybe there are times when we want to trust, but we just don’t know how to or too afraid to ask for fear of embarrassment. Our pain and suffering have ripped our heart out and stomped all over it. And no amount of verses at the moment can mask or heal the pain. We know God is Lord over all and a loving God; some experience, however, is screaming in our face to the contrary. We have become so disoriented and discombobulated we are left devastated in a field of bewilderment. We feel abandoned, violated. Out of the depths of our bruised and battered heart we cry out, “God, please help me to make sense of all of this!”

Let’s stop right there for a moment. Last Tuesday I was "talking" with God while driving in my car. The monologue was on where He wanted me to take next week’s lesson on why Jesus came. I had been kicking around the idea of five things preventing access to God, showing how this enhanced the greatness and love of God in breaking through all the barriers for man’s redemption. But before I could settle in on that direction God broke in and made a dialogue out of the conversation, imagine that! God reminded me of an experience I had in the military. It involved the word trust. I protested, “But Lord, I wasn’t saved then!” God responded, “Truth is truth.” I again opened my mouth, “Isn’t the story of Job sufficient for this? Isn’t that what Paul wrote about in Romans 15:4?” But the Lord reminded me that He also allows things to happen in our lives in order to bring spiritual good and blessing not only to us personally but for others also (2 Cor 1:4).

I fussed some more about avoiding personal illustrations in my teaching. Needless to say, by the time the conversation was over, I was excited God would allow me to share a personal experience to advance the cause of Christ even though it had nothing to do with pain and suffering or the time of the experience because it illustrated (though not perfectly) the kind of trust God expects from us whether we are exposed to the rays of the sun or the rage of the storm.

Last week on the tail end of our discussion on the subject of Satan, our adversary, we entered into a branch of theology called theodicy, defending God’s goodness and justice in the face of evil. When pain and suffering are mentioned God’s character invariably comes into question. How could a sovereign God who claims to be a God of love and justice allow pain and suffering in the world? Why does He allow evil to go unchecked? How could a loving God turn a deaf ear to all the cries for help from injustice and natural disasters? Where is God when we need Him? 

When bad things happen to good people we stand in jeopardy of losing our spiritual equilibrium and risk stumbling over even the basic tenets of our faith, questioning God, questioning our beliefs, questioning everything, as we look into making sense of it all amidst the tumult. It can have a devastating and debilitating effect on our relationship with God and with others, unless grounded in the Word of God. In troubling times like these it is imperative that we store God’s Word in our heart, Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You (Psa 119:11), to help brace ourselves against the day of trouble – man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward (Job 5:7). All the problems result from believers failing to carrying God’s Word in the heart and relying on God’s Word from the heart before the storm, during the storm, and after the storm.

When Job was hit with personal calamity, he was not told why. God did not explain Himself nor will He ever have to give an account of Himself to any of His creatures. He is God. The LORD only directed Job to His Person, not Job’s problems. The foundation of trust is established in who God is, His Person, His character. Personal crisis always has a way of bringing the character of God under the magnifying glass; His character comes under close scrutiny because God is the loving Creator. 

But Job cried out to his fellow critics that even if God should slay him, he will continue to trust in Him (Job 13:15). Why, because Job had a healthy respect for God. Job 1:1 states that he feared God and turned away from doing evil. God was trustworthy. But how far was Job to carry that trust? To what degree was Job willing to go before the trust bank was depleted? Well, as we saw in his severe ordeal he was willing to go all the way even if it cost him his very life. His trust was a trust for life; a belief to die for. Job possessed a deep conviction within his soul that God would always do right by him. He realized everything he had was the result of God (Job 1:21); everything belonged to God, His wife, his children, his servants, his vast holdings, and even his very life. To question God in his mind was to go against his fundamental belief in God’s goodness. God had done right by him in the past; God is doing right by him in the present; and God will do right by him in the future. God never changes, only the circumstances. Job had this mindset, “I’m going to trust God even if it kills me” literally.

This questioning of God’s character was garden grown back in Eden when Satan planted the first question (the big Q) in the mind of a human, and it took root in the heart of Eve, and she began to question God’s character. There have been Q’s ever since. Pride questions; humility trusts. And God has given us a revelation of Him through His Word so that we can know of Him and learn from Him to be holy as He is holy. God’s own son learned obedience through suffering; we are God’s sons and daughters; we are not better than Jesus Christ.

Pain and suffering for the cause of Christ are indelible marks of the Christian walk. Pain and suffering are inevitable for all because of sin in the world. Christ knows all about enduring pain and suffering; for no one suffered greater than our Lord, not even Job. All pain and suffering pale in comparison to the depths of agony Christ suffered on the cross for our sin. What was Christ’s response to pain and suffering – Not as I will but as You will (Mt 36:39).

Trust in God is the only solid answer provided in Scripture for the “why’s” or the “OMG” experiences of life. 

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Here is my story.

We were being trained to swim underwater with a closed circuit rebreathing apparatus (to avoid detection by exhalation bubbles) to approach an enemy vessel and attach a magnetic limpet mine to the hull and swim away undetected. (The limpet mine was a naval device attached below the water line of ships by magnets. It originally derived its name from a mollusk called a limpet because of similar appearance, so the story goes.) It would detonate either by a time fuse or a small propeller attached to the limpet mine, triggering the mine after the ship sailed a certain distance. 

One night we were dropped off in San Diego Bay approximately one mile off shore of a stretch of land called the Silver Strand in Coronado, CA. There were 17 swimmer pairs that night. We had swum this course before during daylight hours. There was a telephone pole with a diamond shaped structure attached to it near the top. It was called Point Lima. Our objective was to get into the water obtain a compass bearing on Point Lima illuminated by a light, go underwater and remain underwater, and follow the compass heading until we reached Point Lima on the shore. Point Lima represented our enemy ship. We were not allowed to resurface to confirm our heading that night once we went below the surface.

Before we left the boat, the instructor gave us some very important advice. He said that the currents will make us feel like we are going in circles. Whatever we do trust your compass and do not over compensate; Trust the compass no matter what. He also reminded us to keep our batter board level, not to tilt or twist it, but to maintain a geometrical line. Keep it level, keep it straight. The batter board was a small light weight board that contained a compass, a watch, and a depth gauge. I was to be the navigator and my officer dive buddy was only there for the ride. We were the last pair of divers to enter the water. 

After we hit the water, I shot my compass bearing and move the bezel to where the the two stationary illuminated marks sandwiched the illuminated needle. As long as I kept the illuminated needle between the two stationary bright green marks I was on course based upon my original bearing established on the surface. Bobbing on the surface and keeping the batter board level was tricky. When I signaled my diving buddy to descend we reached the bottom around thirty feet. 

Once reaching the bottom there was so much mud kicked up by the thirty-two divers that preceded us; I could not even see the luminescent marks on the compass! The bottom of San Diego bay is very muddy, particularly on the southern end; and the 64 swimmer fins that preceded us were stirring up the mud on the bottom. The only thing I could do was to separate the “cloud” of mud from the compass by literally placing my face mask directly on top of the compass; it worked! I could make out the three fluorescent green marks; but they were very blurred. Try reading with your nose nearly touching the paper. Since all the divers were basically on the same course, conditions were not going to improve until it was all over. My partner who was hanging onto my tank manifold had no clue of the challenge we were facing. I would have to leave my face masked glued to the compass, and try to maintain the batter board in the proper orientation over a pitch black mile.

I maneuvered around on the bottom, stirring up my own mess, until I was able to align the green blur of the needle between the two stationary blurs; that was our track to follow. Except for the first swimmer pair, this would be the longest black mile we all had ever swum underwater. It was analogous to an IFR pilot (instrument flight rules, flying while looking at the instruments only). The words of the instructor kept coming back to me as I constantly adjusted for water current deviation (the going in circles phenomena) – trust your compass, keep it level, keep it straight. 

I can’t recall how long it took us to swim a mile underwater, but at this stage in our training we were in Olympian condition. It seemed to take forever, however, with my face mask physically in contact with the compass the whole way. It was only when we reached the shoreline that I ever removed my mask from off the top of the compass. It seemed like we were going in endless circles, correction after correction after correction, just like the instructor said we would. Again, his words, “Trust your compass, gentlemen, trust your compass.” Onward I swum thinking trust your compass, keep the board level, keep it straight, and trust your compass. That was all I would think about as I kept the green moving blur between the other two fixed blurs. 

Though my partner was practically swimming on top of me hanging onto my tank manifold, He had no clue of the struggles I was encountering. He was just hanging on for the ride, trusting his underwater navigator. When our heads finally broke the water we were in waist deep water. We looked up and saw Point Lima before us. We slipped off our fins and stood up. Point Lima was directly in front of us. We looked to our left and to our right and divers were scattered up and down the shoreline. "Looks like somebody didn't trust their compass," I said. My dive buddy smiled and patted me on the back and said, Good job!” As we came out of the water the instructors congratulated me for a job well done. He said that we were the only swimmer pair to hit the mark. I thanked him with a "Hoo Yah." We loaded up and headed back to the base.

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You probably have already put two and two together and figured out where I am going with all of this. As with any illustration used to convey spiritual truth, there are always limitations, not all of the subject matter in the illustration fits. This one is no different. But I believe that this story of Point Lima provides us with the components of trust that God is expecting from each one of us in the midst of our Christian responsibilities of worshipping, serving, and developing into Christlikeness in light of our discussion last week with the pain and suffering of Job and Christ (cf. Hebrews 11:1ff). 

I, like you, have read the Bible stories of the suffering of the saints; the incredible pain and suffering some had to endure for the faith. And if we are not careful, we will slap some stain glass on these saints as if they were in another league of their own. We compare the story of our life with theirs and come up short. We cannot identify. But the truth of the matter is they were just like us, ordinary people, sinners saved by grace, who loved God and lived for God. And because of their faith, their ordinary life became extraordinary; true faith in God does that to people, I2P stuff. In the midst of the currents of opposition flowing all around us, this story illustrates the kind of trust required for living in a very dark and sinful world, to keep us on course, heading for our spiritual Point Lima.

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Let’s take a peek at Proverbs 3:5-6.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6 is the classic passage on trust, the classic passage on direction in life. For many it is a life verse.

Trust: (Heb, batah): “A verb indicating to trust, to be confident. It expresses the feeling of safety and security that is felt when one can rely on someone or something else.” The Complete Word Study Dictionary

LORD: (YHWH, Yahweh, the proper name of God, derivation unknown, often understood in the context of God’s existence, the I AM THAT I AM, Exo 3:14, 6:2-3) The object of our trust.

All: (Heb, kol) entire or whole.

Heart: The seat of the intellect (Prov 10:8; 15:14, 28), the emotions (Prov 12:25; 13:12; 14:10, 13), and the will (Prov 5:12). The whole heart (all-intellectual, all-emotional, all-volitional) is singularly devoted to trust. Half-heartedness is the diametrical opposite. God requires not the half but the whole. The intellect, the emotions, and the will are to be in full throttled trust.

And lean not to your own understanding: We need an objective source because we are personally involved. When we place our support in our own understanding in a situation, it becomes subjective and biased; we have a tendency to lean to self-interest. God is infinite; we are finite. God sees the big picture; we have tunnel vision. God thoughts and ways are higher than ours (Isa 55:8-9). Leaning to self-understanding is the opposite of trusting in God. The command is not to trust in self but rather to trust in God (cf. Jer 17:9-10).

In all your ways: All (Heb, kol) entire or whole. All is pivotal because far too often we live divided lives. One half enjoys the things of this world while the other half tries to live for the Lord. Ways is metaphorically the pattern of life, lifestyle, our journey in this life, the road we travel. In all of our travels we are to acknowledge Him.

Acknowledge Him: Acknowledge (Heb, yada), an intimate knowledge of God, intellectually and experientially. This is a relationship where God is actively involved in every area of our life and under His control.

And He will direct your path: Direct (Heb, yasar), straightforward, in a physical and ethical sense. Path, figuratively, a course of life, literally, the path we take. This is the promise. God may use the Scriptures, the Spirit, saints, a situation, or a combination of these to guide us. Straightforward sounds pretty clear guidance to me, no ambiguity on the path to take. This reminds me of when the children of Israel were hemmed in by the Red Sea and the Egyptian army was bearing down upon them. When God parted the waters nobody stood around asking, "Which way do we go; which way do we go?" When we comply with the commands of this passage, God’s direction will be so crystal clear that there can be no question, only a choice of leeks and onions in the land of disobedience or milk and honey of the promised land of obedience.

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I press toward the mark (goal, NKJV, “Point Lima”) for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Php 3:14, KJV).

Mark (goal): Our spiritual Point Lima has a dual meaning:

(1) Developing Christlikeness in the here and now (Php 3:8, 12; Rom 8:29) and
(2) Ultimate Christlikeness in heaven (cf. Php 3:20-21; 1 Jn 3:1-2).

The goal is to reach Point Lima (Christlikeness), the finish line (cf. Heb 12:2). Our eyes are fixed upon the mark or goal, striving to be Christlike. (Php 3:8, 12).

Press: It means to stretch forward, an aggressive, energetic action of either as a sprinter in a foot race or in a chariot race. How does he press?

Php 3:12, Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

· Never stop. Realize you never arrive, I do not count myself to have apprehended.

· Stay focused. Singleness of purpose (one aim, one ambition, contrast Jas 1:8, unstable, tilting and twisting), but one thing I do.

· Run light. Don’t look back on failures or successes, forgetting those things which are behind.

· Grow in Christlikeness, reaching forward to those things which are ahead. If we are not reaching forward we are falling back. 

Prize: a crown or righteousness (cf 2 Tim 4:7-8; 1 Cor 9:24). If we reach the goal we receive a reward. If we fail to reach the goal, we lose reward but not our citizenship.

High calling: (upward call, NKJV) "This includes salvation, conformity to Christ, joint-heirship with Christ, a home in heaven, and innumerable spiritual blessings."

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We are instructed to trust the moral compass God has provided for us, the Bible, with the help of the Holy Spirit in helping us to navigate through the oceans of life. Point Lima is a type of Christ; He is the goal our mark to get a moral bearing on in the here and now until we reach the celestial shores of heaven.

We strive to be like Him by growing in grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet 3:18). The world lacks a moral compass because the Bible is largely ignored or rejected altogether. If you can’t trust the Bible you can’t trust the God of the Bible. We don't worship the Bible; we worship the God of the Bible. And the only way to know God is through what He has chosen to reveal of Himself in Scripture.

The travesty among Christians is that we don’t trust the compass when the currents of life, like pain and suffering, cross our path. Rather than staying the course we begin to rationalize and over compensate due to the currents affecting us in this dark world. Our heads are telling us that we are going in circles and begin twisting and tilting our Bible to adjust to our own understanding of the situation (cf. 2 Pet 3:16); our sound judgment has been compromised. The compass says to go this way; our feelings say to head another. Whenever we decide to doubt the data, we will veer off course, missing the mark of the high calling in Jesus. Oh, we will reach celestial shores over time, but we won’t hear our Point Lima saying, “Well done you good and faithful servant.” 

Figuratively speaking, many of us are trying to reach Point Lima by simply using our depth gauge and watch (our own understanding); though both are useful, neither is capable of getting us to Point Lima, getting us where we need to be in Christ. To make a compass run without a compass would be disastrous. To go through life without a moral compass (the Bible) would be equally catastrophic. We can trust in the compass; but unless our behavior points in that direction, there is only intellectual or emotional belief, no actual trust. Trust requires all of the mind, the emotions, and the will (Prov 3:5-6). Without the will in the belief it equates to nothing less than unbelief. And we know that any thing that is not from faith is sin.

When you think back over the story, if I had not emphatically trusted in my compass, I would never have hit Point Lima right on the mark. My watch and depth gauge provided me with important data, but without the compass, I would have been running blind, placing my mission in jeopardy. Everyone else missed the mark that night. Here is the stark reality. No matter what circumstances enter our lives, even if we are rattled to the very core, God expects for you and I to stay the course like Job. Trust our compass (the Word of God); keep it level; keep it straight; keep going! 

When we start to tilt and twist the compass of God’s Word due to the currents of life, our  understanding will take us off course, and we head for the big Q. “How could a God of love do me this way?” “Well, if that doesn’t take the cake!” We will consume a great deal of negative energy by going in circles, getting disoriented, distracted, and winding up further off course from the will of God. We won’t get the job done.

We will never hit Point Lima by failing to trust The Compass. We stray off course by leaning to our own understanding. If we are not trusting in The Compass and our fins are not kicking (behavior) in the direction of the needle of God’s Word, listen to me, we will miss the mark of what God has for us! There can be no doubt about it.

How important is the Word to you and me? You know very well how vital it is; we can’t carry out God’s mission for our life without it! If we are running a race of faith without a moral compass, is it any wonder why the currents of pain and suffering so easily knock us off course. We have never learned to trust the Word of God, not really. We have merely paid it lip service – “Oh, I believe the Bible is the Word of God!” Oh, really? 

It is impossible for us to be like Christ and never read, never study, never memorize, never hide God’s Word in our heart. We will wind up, if we have not already, a casualty to pain and suffering or to some other strong current. Why? Because we haven’t invested in our trust bank. We have not made any deposits into our mind concerning the Word of God! We cannot trust in someone in whom we don’t know, especially if a crisis hits. And beloved, when it comes to dealing with pain and suffering in an acceptable way that pleases God as in the cases of Job or Christ, it demands that we know God and trust Him because of who He is. He is absolutely and infinitely holy and just. This is not just a head knowledge but a heart knowledge, too! Both head and heart are fused into one great big, I TRUST IN HIM! 

Our moral compass, God’s Word, will get us to Point Lima if, and only if, we trust and obey. It’s the only way. Trust your compass when pain and suffering flows around you. Trust your compass when there are still waters. Don’t wait until pain and suffering acts like a rip tide to take you away from God before you begin looking for The Compass. You prepare for the storm by taking countermeasures in order to prevent getting swept away by it. This is definitely not where we want to be, out of God’s will down stream somewhere, unChristlike.

None of us are immune to adversity. We must trust in the LORD with all our heart (all of our mind, all of our feelings, and all of our will), our utmost for His Highest, as Oswald Chambers so eloquently put it. The Compass demands all trust (in God’s Word), lean not (don’t compensate, tilt or twist), acknowledge (follow the direction of the needle, kick up some mud).

Think of the two stationary bars as God the Father and God the Son, our bearing. The needle is God the Holy Spirit who points the way and will guide us to our spiritual Point Lima if we simply trust and obey our moral compass; we must handle God’s Word properly though, no twisting, no tilting, just keeping it level and keeping it straight and keep on swimming in the direction of the needle between the bars. We will hit the mark (the goal) if we trust and obey. If on the other hand we head in the direction of the Big Q, that should be our cue that we are venturing off course. We will miss the mark of the high calling of God. The choice is crystal clear: the big Q or Point Lima.

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When I finally closed my eyes in bed that night, all I could see were three green blurs embedded in my brain, like a Heads Up Display (HUD). I smiled as I drifted off to sleep to face the challenges of the next day knowing I hit the mark – “Good job, sailor.” May God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit stay within our sights, trusting our compass without reservation – the Word of God, with no twisting or tilting, as we navigate through the darkness of this treacherous and sinful world until we finally reach the celestial shores and look up and see our Point Lima – and Christ the Instructor says, Well done, good and faithful slave …. Enter into the joy of your Lord (Mt 25:21). No more pain and suffering, folks.

Trust and Obey

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

John H. Sammis, 1887