MOVING
ACCORDING TO PLAN

Topics: Faith; God’s Will; Guidance; Providence; Trust

Reference: Psalm 13:1–2

In December 1958, I came to America from Germany on the USS Butner, a transport ship. After we left Bremerhafen, we passed through the North Sea into the North Atlantic. Huge waves buffeted the ship, and every day seemed the same—water, water everywhere, to the north, the south, the east, and the west. All we could hear was the monotonous grinding of the ship’s engine.

Finally, the scene changed. There was water to the east and the south, but to the west stood the Statue of Liberty gleaming in the morning sun. We had come home.

Walking by faith can be like that. Waves of opposition battle us with no change in sight. In all directions there seems to be nothing, with the Lord seemingly asleep. Then, finally, a special day arrives, revealing that we have been moving all along according to his plan.

—Helmar Heckel, Excelsior, Minnesota