“One ship drives east and another drives west
With the self-same winds that blow.
Tis the act of the sails and not the gales
Which tells the way to go.”
In a sailboat we can go east or west, steer into the rocks, or bring it gently to anchor in a safe harbor — all with the same wind, blowing in the same direction. It is up to us, and the way we handle the tiller determines our destination.
So it is with life. The winds of adversity blow on all of us. It is up to us to use the tiller to bring ourselves to a safe harbor instead of allowing the same wind to destroy us on the rocks of the world.
The skipper of the sailboat knows where he is going; he charts his course with his compass and skillfully maneuvers his ship toward his desired destination.
We need to do this as we journey across the sea of life toward the kingdom. Have we charted our course? No sailor would set sail without charts. None of us should venture out on the high seas of life without his Bible. Do we have firmly fixed in our mind our goal, which should be the kingdom of God? Have we set our sails to take advantage of the winds of life to drive us in the right direction? Are we diligent to keep our hand on the tiller? Do we constantly take readings to check our progress? Do we batten down the hatches when the sea is rough to prevent the waves of adversity from swamping our ship?
We often sing the hymn: “The rough winds may wrestle — our God will perform: with Christ in the vessel, we smile at the storm.” Every sailor who has ever sailed has encountered rough winds. Every one of us steering our vessel toward the kingdom will encounter storms. It is not if but when and how we react to the rough winds and the storms that come that will determine whether we sink or survive.
Do we really believe Christ is in the vessel with us? “For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Recall when Christ was in the vessel with his disciples: “And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master carest thou not that we perish. And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still, And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.” This Jesus did in his mortal state. Now that he is our helper sitting at God’s right hand, will he not do for us as he did for them, if only we have faith? He reprimanded them at that time saying, “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?”
Does this question apply to us? Are we fearful because we lack faith or are we fearful because we know that we are not sailing in the right direction? Do we think the Lord will remain with us in the ship if we are sailing toward the world’s harbors and away from God?
The sea of life is fraught with storms, for we all encounter sickness, setbacks and death. But if we set our sails for the kingdom, we have hope for a glorious future beyond the grave and we have Christ helping us through the stormy seas now. We cannot blame the wind; it is our skillful use of the tiller that determines our direction. We will have rough winds and storms in our lives. But if we allow our Bible to be our chart, and we trust in the Lord to guide us, then we are promised, as we sing in the last verse of hymn 267: “The heirs of salvation, we know from His word, through much tribulation must follow their Lord.”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One