In 2005 a retired merchant seaman named Waldemer Semenov donated a compass to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. The ordinary and small compass (a mere four and half inches in diameter), doesn't look impressive, but this device has a fascinating story behind it.

During World War II, Semenov was serving as a junior engineer on the American merchant ship SS Alcoa Guide. On April 16, 1942, the ship was sailing from New Jersey to the Caribbean when a German submarine surfaced and opened fire with its deck cannons. Semenov recalls, "We didn't have any guns, and there were no escorts. [The Germans] were using us as target practice." The SS Alcoa Guide caught fire and started to sink 300 miles off the coast of North Carolina.

Semenov snatched three loaves of bread ("I knew we might be in the water for a while," he said) as he and the rest of the crew scrambled to lower two lifeboats and a raft into the water. Fortunately, the lifeboats were equipped with a compass. Semenov and his fellow crew members used the compass to sail west by northwest toward the shipping lanes. After three days, a patrol plane, searching for sailors from any of the three ships that had been sunk that week, spotted Semenov's lifeboat. The next day the USS Broome rescued the men on the lifeboats. In contrast, it took three weeks to find the raft, which was drifting aimlessly with only one survivor. In all, thanks to that compass, Semenov and 26 other crew members from the SS Alcoa Guide survived.

Possible Preaching Angles: (1) God's Word, The Bible—In a survival scenario like this, having a compass can save your life. It is a trustworthy device to tell you what direction to go. The same is true for our spiritual lives. (2) Goals, Vision—They're like a compass that leads us to our next destination.