Shipwreck

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer…” 2 Samuel 22:2

In Bible times, sailing ships were used to cross large bodies of water, taking cargo, passengers, and prisoners to distant shores. As long as the wind blew, they could adjust the sails and eventually reach port. The rudder would be employed to steer the ship, giving the sailors a choice of direction.

If a storm arose, the sails would be taken down so the ship wouldnʼt be pitched about at the mercy of the wind. Oars would be useless, but the rudder might still help the ship stay the course.

But if they entered an area with a dead calm, the ship could only sit and wait for the wind to blow again. Ships were meant to move along on course with wind, sails, and rudder all working together under direction of the captain.

In our lives, though, we love a dead calm. In a dead calm, we need no captain. We can take care of things ourselves. Everything is under our control, comfortable, unruffled. For many of us, it doesnʼt take much wind to make us feel things are moving too fast in the wrong direction. We employ our rudder, our choice-maker, and choose which way we want to go. (Even in a storm, we can make choices that help determine the outcome of our lives.)

But a truly ferocious storm comes along now and then in every life. Your sails are down and your rudder is useless. You are completely at the mercy of the wind, and your oars are thrown overboard to lighten the load. There is nothing to stabilize you, and no way to just walk ashore and get out of the trouble. In spite of all your good choices and plans, you may yet be dashed upon the rocks.

This sounds like a scary place, and it is—except for one thing. The wind and the waves obey Jesus! He may speak and tell them to be still, as He did for the disciples, or He may allow the shipwreck, as He did for Paul. We donʼt know His ways because they are higher than ours, and so we ride the stormy waves, clinging to hope in God, in faith allowing Him to have His way with us.

A dead calm may bring a calm heart, but it wonʼt move the ship. We need the wind. We need the Holy Spirit breathing life and strength and power into our sails, propelling us forward in Godʼs will for us. And if we suffer shipwreck upon the rocks, then we know that we have been cast upon the Rock that is firm and sheltering. “Who is a rock, except our God?” (2 Samuel 22:32).

God, You are my Rock, shelter, deliverer, and fortress. Open my eyes to see that being dashed upon You with no other hope is more to be desired than floating in a dead, stagnant calm where we captain our own ship that does not move. Move us, Lord. In Jesusʼ Name, Amen.