Hard Choices
There were many times during the Battle of the Atlantic when destroyer commanders faced a painful dilemma. When enemy submarines attacked their convoys, there were inevitably survivors in the water at the same time that other attacks were in progress. Obviously, the destroyer’s mission was to pursue all submarine contacts to protect the other ships in the convoy. However, survivors could not be expected to last long in the North Atlantic. One such episode, with a happy ending, was reported by Capt. Donald MacIntyre of the HMS Walker .
On a wild night in March 1941, five cargo ships in his convoy were torpedoed. The Walker raced about the convoy and made several depth charge runs on sonar contacts with uncertain results. At one point confusing sonar echoes from all the explosions necessitated a lull in the action. MacIntyre recalled:
I had for some time past noticed in the distance the bobbing lights from the lifeboats of one of our sunken ships, but with an enemy to engage there was nothing for it but to harden my heart and hope that the time might come later when I could rescue the crews. This lull seemed a good opportunity and perhaps if we left the area temporarily the U-boat commander might think he had shaken us off and be tempted into some indiscretion. So… we stopped and picked up the master and thirty-seven of the crew of the SS J. B. White .95
Our choices may not be as stark as those of a destroyer commander in wartime, but they are nevertheless often difficult. We need to understand that God intends for us to face hard choices in our lives. He gives us the capacity to make decisions, and he holds us accountable for them. The Old Testament gives us repeated admonitions to choose obedience to God’s laws, which is of course what we should always try to do. But Jesus brought a new perspective and a new choice. When we choose Jesus Christ, we are choosing life over death. He explained this to Martha by telling her that the physical preparations for his visit were not as important as understanding this message.
“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
—Luke 10:41–42
Torpedoed ship sinks in the Atlantic. (National Archives)
Depth-charge attack on a Nazi U-boat. (National Archives)