Saving on the Sea
The waves were high, and the ship was shifting back and forth like a leaf being tossed in the wind. Many ships full of merchandise were selling their goods from country to country, but there was one ship that was in trouble that night. It had too much cargo on board. Its weight and the sea’s anger was a bad combination. Most of the men on the ship were saying their last prayers and the others believed that they could make it through the storm.
The captain of the ship was scared. He was afraid for his life and asked Lemuel to pray with him, so he could calm his nerves. Lemuel prayed fervently in the spirit and loud enough for all his other ship mates to hear. Lemuel was not afraid of the rambling sea or the roughness of the waves. He knew God was in control of it, and thought if it was his time to go, he’ll be in heaven with the Lord. He would sing, “Just to See Your Presence” often when he felt scared. Lemuel was always mild mannered and the crew admired him for being humble and not loud and rough like the rest of them.
After Lemuel prayed, the sea was still roaring, but the captain and ship mates felt calmer. “We’ll just have to ride the storm until it’s over,” said Lemuel.
“I believe when you see the sun light piercing through the sky, you will find peace in your souls again.”
Those words touched all the men and they felt safe.
Lemuel’s name meant “devoted to God”, and Lemuel was. His father and mother spread the gospel of the Lord Jesus after hearing Paul preach in the streets. They died a martyr in their twenties. Lemuel was a small child then but his grandparents raised him in the temple. When Lemuel grew up he provided for them. Lemuel didn’t have a wife, nor was he looking. He enjoyed preaching the gospel from country to country while working at the same time. Having someone between him and the Lord was something that Lemuel didn’t want in his life now.
Lemuel met a lot of women over the years, but they didn’t want to hear him speak of the gospel that restored his life when he backslid as a teenager. Now at the age of forty five, Lemuel was a sea man on a mission for God, which he always had in his mind.
The storm was over and as the crew woke up, they were smiling. The sun hit their faces and their souls were at peace. They had slept through it all.
Not far from land, the captain realized that they had sailed off course. The land they were headed to was just that, a piece of land. Using the telescope, the captain caught something in his sight. A half dressed man and a barely clothed woman was jumping up and down. The captain could not describe if they were happy or in pain. The other shipmates looked and one of them saw blood on the man.
Lemuel heard them and told them to be calm, and to remember that the storm they just went through could have ended their lives, but this was not a storm and more like a mission.
“A Mission!” Shouted one of the ship mates
“We have to get to the merchants, let’s turn this ship around,” said the captain
Lemuel didn’t say another word. He watched the captain and the men try earnestly to get the ship to turn around.
“Pray to God so he can turn this ship around. We can lose a lot of money if we’re not on time,” said the Captain.
Lemuel agreed what he had said, and went down to the lower deck away from everyone and used a wooden box for a chair to sit down. He prayed to God for direction and wisdom. He knew from that moment that they would be protected for whatever was coming ahead.
‘Turn! Turn!” yelled the captain to the men.
Lemuel stood up and looked out the tiny window to see what was happening. He saw the ship was moving closer to the island. As it was getting closer, more and more people came out of the woods. It went from two people to hundreds.
“We’re in trouble now. What is God doing to us Lemuel? I think they’re cannibals or something,” said the captain.
Lemuel was calm. His shipmates were shouting profanities while looking for tools to fight.
“Stop yelling, you’re making things worse. If you stay calm, maybe they will stay calm,” said Lemuel.
The captain believed Lemuel and told the men to be calm.
“Now smile.” said Lemuel. “And don’t wave.”
The ship began to stop and the people on the island didn’t seem harmless at all. Some of the men hid in the ship, some had weapons concealed in their clothes and the captain had a large knife hidden in his sleeve. Lemuel had the Lord on his side and didn’t worry. He remained prayerful.
When the ship remained still the man with the blood on him got into the ocean waters and ran towards the ship and the woman followed him. A few men on the island that were half clothed followed them. The men then grabbed the man and the woman and hurled them back to the island and into the woods.
The remaining people were still as they watched the captain and the crew standing still aboard the ship. Then a muscular man with a large decorated hat came forward, between the crowds. Lemuel suspected that he was the chief. He said something in his own language to the ship attendants. Lemuel proceeded to get off the ship and two of the ship’s crew followed him.
As they were getting closer, they and Lemuel waved and bowed, showing greetings. The Chief did the same. When Lemuel and the chief came face to face his facial expressions looked uneasy, because he didn’t know what they wanted. Lemuel called to the captain to bring some objects off the boat to give to them as gifts. Instead of the captain getting off the ship, he sent one of the ship mates.
When the ship mate got to Lemuel, he handed him a telescope, some paper and charcoal. Lemuel bowed down and began to write and he gestured the chief to follow what he was doing. The chief did and Lemuel showed him how each of the objects were used. The chief liked them very much. Lemuel also showed the rest of them how to write and to say the words that he had them write down.
After the brief encounter, they left, without any conflict. The chief and his people were holding up their papers. His friends and family were shouting Jesus is Lord and waving. Everyone laughed on their way back to the ship and thanked Lemuel for getting them out of the situation.
The sea was calm and the men were peaceful on their way to deliver the merchandise. To them, they escaped death twice with Lemuel’s help, but Lemuel knew there was one more death they needed to escape from and that was eternal death. Lemuel was with the crew for the next 20 years. Many of them received the Lord as their Messiah and spread the gospel to all the countries that they visited.
Lemuel retired from the sea life and remained with the Lord. He also married a holy woman of God and continued to share the gospel.
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