For two years I served aboard the John C. Calhoun, a nuclear submarine that patrolled the sea staying submerged for over two months each deployment. One question that friends have invariably asked me through the years is how I survived without access to personal communication to the rest of the world. Although my fellow crewmembers of the submarine became friends, there were many times where I longed to talk to the people I loved the most – such as family members and lifelong friends. Due to the nature of the mission of the submarine, which was to run silent run deep so the enemy could not locate the boat, outgoing personal messages were prohibited and the only incoming messages were very short scripts called family-grams. Despite the close-knit quarters and comradery from shipmates, a feeling of being alone was often felt by some of the crew. However, one truth that I knew was that regardless of the depth of the submarine in the ocean, I was never alone because God was with me.
Scripture that I had memorized in my youth, “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deut. 31:8), gave me the assurance that there was no barrier to God’s presence. Regardless of the depth of the submarine, and that our purpose was to ensure no enemy could detect us, I never felt alone because the Bible clearly states that God will be with his followers. It could have been easy for fear to grip me in its clutches, but with God’s presence, one that I could feel on a daily basis, I did not need to be afraid.
One of the first Bible stories I recall learning is the story of Jonah and the whale. Recall that before the whale swallowed Jonah, he was attempting to run from God. Unlike my submarine experience where I at least had over one hundred other men around, Jonah must have felt very alone inside the fish’s stomach. He was trying to isolate himself from God, but now he was completely alone. Or so he thought. God never left him and when Jonah prayed to God and gave thanks to him and acknowledged that salvation comes from the Lord (Jonah 2:9), the Lord heard his prayer and commanded the big fish to spit Jonah out of its mouth.
A relationship with God begins with prayer. Jesus states that “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). We open the door with a prayer of repentance, asking Jesus to become Lord of our life. He then hears our prayer and our relationship with him begins. Whether life takes us to the top of a mountain or down to the depths of the sea, we are never alone with a relationship with God.