5 Reasons Why You Need a Compass
During World War II, Semenov was serving as a junior engineer on the SS Alcoa Guide. While sailing from New Jersey to the Caribbean, a German submarine surfaces and opens fire. The SS Alcoa Guide catches fire and starts to sink. Semenov and the crew scramble into lifeboats and a raft. Semenov and the twenty-six crew members in the lifeboats are able to successfully sail in the direction of shipping lanes, soon to be discovered by patrol planes and the USS Broome.
Lifeboats are equipped with compasses in order to provide direction - moving away from harm, or guiding toward rescue and safety.
What difference does a compass make?
"Desire without knowledge is not good,
and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way."
[ Proverbs 19:2 ]
As we dive into this passage, this is the bottom line: You need Biblical knowledge and wisdom functioning as the compass to your life, desires, and pursuits. The fear of the Lord shelters the soul from innumerable dangers that threaten life and livelihood.
#1: A compass equips you for the journey.
Generally speaking, life is an odyssey of discovering and experiencing meaningfulness. The word “desire” in this passage refers to the “inner self” or the “essence of life” as you are existing before dying. Another way to look at this Hebrew word is to think of your "livingness”, your life’s “value and significance” as you still have breath.
But that doesn’t seem to be where the author of the proverb stops. The author doesn’t merely focus on the value of your life, but how you pursue your life. The passion of your life. The desire of your soul. The manner of your living.
What would come of life’s significance if its desires, passions, and pursuits had nothing guiding them?
#2: A compass equips you to go in the right direction.
According to the proverb, what does desire need in order to be fully experienced and enjoyed? What is the implied “compass” of desire that can provide the good, the beneficial, the beautiful?
Knowledge.
Proverbs 1:7 shines light on this, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.“
The reverential fear, wonder, and astonishment of God - His awesomeness and His holiness - calibrates your mind to be effectual in life … True knowledge - the fear of the Lord - is life’s heavenly compass in a world of broken cisterns, which are unable to hold all of what life entails.
Divine knowledge surpasses earthly studying and knowing.
Divine wisdom surpasses earthly perceptiveness and discernment.
Divine power surpasses the earthly limitations and frailty.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” [Isaiah 55:8-9]
#3: A compass equips you with sensibility.
The passage continues with “whoever makes haste”.
If you place this latter half of the verse alongside the first half of the verse, “making haste” explains and equates to “desire without knowledge”. Therefore, proverbially referring to one who acts without sense (i.e. running through life hurriedly without purpose … senselessly … foolishly).
One who makes haste is the same as one who does not have Godly knowledge guiding his/her passions, desires, and life … like a boat without an anchor, being tossed by every wind and taken by every current.
How can you save yourself from the demise of a life that is unmoored to knowledge? Consider Proverbs 4:7, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get understanding.“
Having an intimate knowledge of God in Jesus allows you to slow down, to spend time thinking deeply, to acquire insight, to gain understanding, and to gain sensibility in all your decision-making and pursuits.
The fear of the Lord frees you from falling prey to the senselessness and foolishness and destruction of the daily grind. The fear of the Lord will deliver you from the quest of innumerable idols.
#4: A compass equips you to stay on course and hit the mark.
If missing your way is a great evil on the other side of an untethered life, then a life guided by Godly wisdom is a life that experiences what it was intended to experience: The good, the beneficial, the beautiful.
The fear of the Lord is protective ground - a refuge, a firm foundation - preventing you from wandering into a land that is outside of what God intends. Obedience to the Word of God and Gospel holiness in Jesus keep you aligned to the target of eternal goodness.
Be warned: Idolatry and foolishness distracts, redirects, and brings shipwreck.
#5: A compass equips you to discover true beauty in life.
Therefore, desire with knowledge is good.
Life awaits those who align all aspects of their lives to the fear of the Lord, to the obedience of faith.
In doing so, life becomes intimately familiar with moral goodness and discovers beauty … pleasantness is unveiled.
Life isn’t absent from earthly troubles; but your path is made straight, and you are protected from being deterred from the abundant life that is found only in Jesus.
The lifeboats were equipped with compasses and found rescue and safety. What about the raft? Did you forget about the raft in the story?
Tragically, the raft, not equipped with a compass, drifts aimlessly for three weeks before being discovered with only one survivor.
Many live their lives like the raft: Drifting. Wandering. Directionless. Resulting in greater despair. A distinct knowledge and understanding is needed. A compass makes all the difference.
Thank you for taking the time to reflect with me, and I pray that this post strengthens your heart in the Lord. Share in the comments what Bible verse(s) have inspired you this week. Let me know if you have any questions, because I would love to continue dialoging about all things pertaining to life and godliness. Spread the Word.
Linus Nguyen is the founder of Of The Way Ministries and serves as lead pastor of Emmanuel Bible Fellowship (Houston, Texas). He has taught in, developed curriculum for, and written on the subjects of Biblical Studies, Theology, Discipleship, Spiritual Formation, Philosophy of Religion, Missions, Humanities, Rhetoric, and Communications at Secondary, Undergraduate, and Postgraduate levels. // Follow him on Podcast, YouTube, Pinterest, and Facebook.