THE PRAYERS OF A GREAT EXPLORER

 

                                    

Roald Amundsen was born in Norway. When he was a young boy, he loved to think of himself growing up to be an explorer. Reading of the lives of great explorers sparked within him the idea of going to places where no man before had ever set foot. At the age of eight years, when other boys were playing simple games, Roald was hardening his body and climbing dangerous hills to improve his ability to meet the challenge he knew he wanted to face in his future.

When Roald was very young, he would often ask, "Mother, why did God make such lonely isolated outposts in the world while so many other things are so beautiful?" His mother, a wise peasant woman, would wrap him on his head with her thimble and tell him not to question the ways of God. His mother wanted him to become a doctor, but Roald held fast to his dreams of exploring and finding both the North Pole and the South Pole.

When he was sixteen, he became a cabin boy on a ship that was exploring the vast and dangerous seas about the South Pole. On the ship he was so smart he was soon promoted to second mate. Because he had read so many books, he knew how to loosen the endangered ship from the ice floes. Later on, he purchased old ship and sailed with his enthusiastic shipmates sailed into the unknown seas of the North.

He hoped to reach the North Pole, he never did but he was the first man to find the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Not long thereafter, Commodore Peary of the United States discovered the North Pole and part of Roald's dream was shattered. But, later he was the first man ever to sail over the North Pole in an airship. While looking down at the barren land of ice and snow, he spoke a prayer to God and dropped the flags of several nations. 

On December 14, 1911, Roald Amundsen, accompanied by four men dashed to the South Pole. There again, remembering God his great Friend, he knelt in the snow as the earth whirled about and beneath him at the southernmost tip of God's world. He thanked God for his triumph and humbly asked God to get him back home safely.  On the way back, his party came across the frozen bodies of the British explorer team. He had tried get to the South Pole first. They were all dead of hunger and cold. Again Roald turned to God under the twinkling stars and prayed for help to reach home; his prayers were answered.

One day the radio flashed that an Italian explorer, one Umberto Nobile had crashed at the North Pole and was in great danger. Roald set off to rescue him and this was his last flight; his body was never found.  Throughout his life, Roald Amundsen maintained a firm belief in God. He said "Above and beyond skill and determination, there is a faith that can move mountains and reach the distant shores. Through storms and terror, I always was enabled to find a peaceful haven because of my prayer to the One above. It is a thing that confounds all scientists."

God has ordained that our journey through life is not a straight line. Life is a mysterious journey full of unexpected twists and turns. The path ahead is a mystery to us all; No one can say for sure what is around the next bend. It may be a smooth road through a lovely valley or we may find that there is a deep river and the bridge is washed out.  The road may disappear or it may seem to go in different directions.

In our limited understanding we can choose “a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death” (Prov. 12:14). But there is one who knows the way and the Bible advices us to trust him with all our hearts (Prov. 3:5-6). The past, present and future are all the same to him and the darkness is as the light of day. He has given us the Bible for a map and compass (Ps. 119.105, 2 Tim 3:16). We have the Holy Spirit with us to guide us and his angels to watching over us (Ps. 91:11).  This God is our guide even to the end (Ps. 48:14).

The will of God rises slowly before our eyes, starting with a few rays of light that pierce the darkness. We see a shaft of light here and another one there, but mostly we walk by faith in darkness. As we keep walking, light slowly fills the sky until at last the darkness has vanished, and we are walking in the sunlight of God’s will (Prov. 4:18). Each step takes us closer to the destination God intended from the beginning.

The providence of God does not guarantee immediate answers, but it assures us there are answers and that we are not walking blindly through life, left to our own devices. We can’t figure out the different ways God is working all things together for our own good and his glory. We see a tiny bit, but the rest is hidden from our view. Only later will we begin to piece together God’s fingerprints on the circumstances of life. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity (1 Cor. 13:12 NLT).

Providence gives us confidence in the moment of confusion. Today many things are unclear and uncertain. We all have more questions than we have answers. So much of life seems like stumbling through the fog of haphazard circumstances. Trying to figure God out only leads to wasted time and missed opportunities.  Just get up each day and do what you believe God wants you to do. Take the next step, walk by faith and leave the rest in the hands of God. Have your eyes open to those divine appointments that God brings your way.

We can’t escape the changing nature of life, but we can change how we look at it. Have you ever been tempted to think like Job, that if you can’t see God then he can’t see you? “If I go east, he is not there, if I go west I cannot find him, when he is at work in the north, I do not see him; when he turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of him” (Job 23:8, 9). The reality is God in his providence sees everything. The scripture says the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth (2 Chron. 16:9).

Have no doubt, though you may not see him in your darkest night he can always see you. Job comforted himself with the fact that even if he could not see God or understand what he was doing  wherever he was, God could see him very well  and was working for his Job’s good “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold. Your prayer should be Lord teach me your way and lead me in a straight path (Ps. 27:11, Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness (Ps. 86:11).

Are you worried about tomorrow, next week or next year? Don’t do it, the Lord is al­ready there. In every situation God is already at work before you get there. We often limit our thinking to the fact that God’s presence goes with us as we go through life. That’s true, but it’s only part of the story. He is not only with us now; he is also way up the road ahead of us. He goes ahead of us, clearing the way and arranging the details of life. He’s at work in the future while we live in the present.

No matter how difficult your journey is, God has promised an eternally happy ending for his children. If you know Jesus, the best is yet to come! One day God will make all things plain and all his ways will be proved right. Let this great truth be the source of your security.  Lay your soul upon the solid rock of God’s eternal providence. Rest in his control over all things and you will sleep well tonight.