Here we are again, another Friday and time for another post, although to be honest I'm not really sure what I am going to write! I have had a few ideas here and there all week, but none of them have come to anything. So I'm just going to start typing and hope inspiration comesto me!
It has been a rubbish week, probably the worst I have had this trip, nothing this week seems to have gone right. One of the main problems has been contact with home. The e mails have been more than temperamental; they work for an hour, then you sit waiting for an e mailfor over an hour and you get 5 at once in a mixed up order! The phones have also been just down right annoying! I ring home, get to speak for about 30 seconds then the phone goes crackly for another 30 seconds and then just cuts off. It's been a major struggle not to pick up the phone, take it outside and launch it off the side of the ship! It's amazing how much lack of contact with home can get you down. But I have already done a post on communication, so that's no good for this post!
As I have said on one of my first posts, every Friday we clean. So this morning I spent 2 hours cleaning toilets. Not exactly what I joined the Navy for; but it needs to be done. If things don't get cleaned regularly and maintained all sorts of problems can occur. Take the toilets for example, if they are not cleaned properly it would not take long before the system broke and we would be left with no working toilets on the ship; not ideal! If they were not cleaned the risk ofsickness would greatly rise. This would be disastrous on a warship, as due to the cramped conditions and ventilation systems, sickness can spread through a ship like wild fire. This has more than one consequence; as a crew who are all ill are not able to work or fight the ship, this would mean the ship is no longer fit for purpose as it would not be able to fulfill its operational role. It would just be a useless lump of metal floating around the sea.
This week I have been reading a bit of the Hand Book of Doctrine. For anyone who does not know about it, it is a book which explains what Salvationists believe and why. It's a bit hard going in places but it is a good read.
In the back section of the book it has the Soldiers Covenant. This is a list of statements which someone makes and agrees to adhere to when becoming a Soldier in the Salvation Army. When I was made a Soldier I stood there and read them out and made a promise before God and all the people who were there that I would try my hardest to live up to and keep these promises I had made. I then signed the certificate as a physical reminder of the promises I had made.
I have this certificate at home kept in a frame; it sits on my chest of draws in my room next to my bed. So every morning when I am getting dressed there in front of me is a reminder of what I have promised. But they are not just promises I made to any person here on Earth; they are promises I made to God. They are more than just an earthly promise; they are a covenant, a sacred contract between me and God.
But here on the ship I have no visual reminder of these promises that I can look at every day. (Although now I have found them in the Handbook of Doctrine I can) When I read through them in my book I was quite shocked by how much some areas of my life had slipped away from these promises. In no way was this done intentionally; but that does not matter, these are promises I have made to God which I have either not kept, or not tried my hardest to keep.
That made me think, its quite easy to keep these promises when living a nice comfy life at home surrounded by other Christians, but its harder here on the ship when I'm alone. But that does not make it ok! That's just an excuse; and there are people in a lot worse situations than me who have kept these promises!
That left me a bit gutted and upset, I hate letting people down. I always try to be a man of my word, if I say I am going to do something or be somewhere at a certain time usually nothing will stop me; I will be there or it will get done. But here I had not let any earthly person down, I had let myself and my standards down and most importantly I had let God down.
So I was left wondering what I should do about this. It didn't take long to work out. I took myself outside to the side of the ship, sat there looking at the calm sea and prayed. I prayed for God to forgive me. I told him that I was sorry I had not kept my end of the covenant I had made with him. I asked him to fill me with the Holy Spirit to strengthen me, so I would be able to keep the promises he had made. I also thanked him for sending his Son Jesus. Because without thesacrifice of Jesus on the cross it would be impossible for me to be forgiven for these errors I have made.
Immediately I felt better. I had a fresh new start; yes I had messed up in places, but God forgives! God wants us to be close to him, and I really believe he rejoices when one of his people realises their mistakes, apologises and asks for help not to make the same mistakesagain. In fact I know this is true! It's promised in the Bible; and unlike us at times God always keeps his promises.
1 John 1:9 (New International Version)9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
So although this week has been hard in many ways I also feel like it has been a good week in other ways. I really do feel I have cleaned out my soul a bit. (See the link with cleaning there! I knew this was going somewhere!) I would encourage all Soldiers who have made the same promises as I have to read through the promises you made with God. If something is not right there is no shame in it! We all fall short and mess up at times. The important thing is realising it and then coming before God in prayer to ask for forgiveness and strength not to make the same mistakesagain!
I am really hoping this next week will be a better one. I enter it knowing there are massive challenges and changes I need to make to keep the promises I made with God. But I also know it's a fresh start and he will strengthen me!
See you next week!
The Sailing Salvationist.
Below is link to the Soldiers Covenant if you want to have a read of it.
http://web.salvationarmy.org/
Here is another link to the 11 doctrines of the Salvation Army.
https://www.salvationist.org/
(Im not sure if these links will actually work, but if not both theDoctrine and Soldiers Covenant can be easily found on Google)
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