Transformed by God’s Word: The Story of Dawson Trotman’s Conversion
Dave Kraft
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints, and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. —Hebrews 4:12
I was on staff with The Navigators for 38 years and had the joy of serving in California, Colorado, Sweden, and here in Seattle. One of the high values in the Navigators organization is spending quality time in Scripture. We were taught how to read, study, meditate on, and memorize God’s Word. Scripture memory was something that was taught to every new and growing believer. It was embedded in our DNA from the early years of organization in the 1940s. The memorized Word of God has deeply, significantly and lastingly impacted my walk and work with and for Jesus.
Dawson Trotman’s Encounter with Scripture
Dawson Trotman, the founder of the Navigators, was deeply impacted by the memorized Word of God. Dawson spent his growing-up years in Lomita, California, a short drive from LA. He worked in a lumberyard and, prior to meeting Christ, lived for self and pleasure.
At the age of 20, Trotman was arrested and on his way to jail. His mother was a praying woman, and he told the arresting officer that it would break her heart if he went to jail. He agreed to change his ways and promised to begin regularly attending church. The first Sunday he went, the Sunday school class he attended was having a Scripture memory contest. Over a few weeks he memorized 20 verses in the King James Bible, and the Holy Spirit was ready to use the Word of God in his heart.
Saved by God’s Word
One morning he was on his way to work, with his lunch pail in his hand, when John 5:24 popped into his mind: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life…” He thought how wonderful that would be to have eternal life and prayed to the Lord, “Whatever this means, I want to have it.” No sooner had he spoken these words in prayer, than another one of his 20 memorized verses sprang to the forefront of his mind: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12). A second prayer followed the first one, “Whatever it means to receive Jesus, I do it right now.”
At that moment, Dawson Trotman, sinner and potential jailbird, was born again by the Holy Spirit of the living God. The memorized Word of God was not only instrumental in his conversion, but also in his continued growth toward spiritual maturity. He began to commit more and more Scripture to memory and to experience the truth of Romans 12:2, “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” Because of his experience, Trotman encouraged all followers of Jesus to hide God’s Word in their hearts.
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