No
Sail, No Rudder
The pastor of the church I have
been attending has been talking about structures. Structures like tall buildings and
bridges. He had illustrations of them
and showed and explained how they were constructed so they could stand tall and
strong. He also showed a photo of the
Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington state.
It was poorly constructed and collapsed only four months after it was
completed. His message was how we need
to construct our lives, both spiritually and how we lived our lives and our
families.
He also had a picture which showed
how Noah’s Ark was constructed, its different decks that held thousands of
animals he saved from the flood that God sent to cleanse the Earth of sin. That brought to mind a presentation I watched
many years ago on one of Joyce Meyer’s daily programs. She said she had recently realized that the
Ark lacked two important features: it had no sail or oars to propel it and no
rudder to direct it. God was the
propelling force and he was the rudder directing it. Surely Noah knew this since he built it. Undoubtedly, he asked God about these
lacks. And God told him that he, God,
was the power that moved the ship and the rudder that directed it in the
direction he wanted it to go. Noah
trusted God throughout the whole process of building the Ark, provisioning it
and bringing all manners of animals aboard.
So he certainly trusted God still more about what propelled the ship and
what directed it.
The number 40 is found throughout
the bible more than 100 times, so the 40 days that the Ark floated on the sea was
in keeping with that God’s custom.
Noah’s trust and belief in God’s
plans are the ultimate example of man’s trust in God. Did he question God? Certainly.
But that faith saved him and his people and all of the animals with
which to repopulate the Earth. That
belief and trust in God is truly awesome!
Would you have done it? If God asked you to do something so
outstanding, would you? Maybe not on
Noah’s scale, most certainly not. But
there are many examples of people who turned from one level of life and became
what God needed. I am a very, very small
example of that. When I started writing
these in 2012 and created this blog in 2014, I had no idea what God wanted me
to do with the words he put in me to write these. This is the 120th writing in this
blog, all about us and God and the messages he wants me to tell. I did not know if anyone would read these or
the blog. From time to time, I told
people about it, less than 50 most likely.
When I was writing this article, I looked at the totals for the entire
period and it is over 17,000 views in 19 countries. I had no idea what God had in mind in 2012,
but he did. I certainly did not tell
that number of people and I do not know how all of these people found this blog
and read some of these writings. God
does.
What is God telling you? What direction is he asking you to go? Do you hear that tiny whisper in your
ear? Or maybe he will send a messenger,
someone to make a comment or suggestion that catches your attention. Maybe it will be something you see that will
tell you what to do. God has a plan for
each of us, just sometimes we have to listen and believe. I could have tried to ignore him in
2012. I didn’t and now 14 years later I
am still doing what he directs me to do.
Are you listening? Are you seeing some visual clue? He will wait until you are ready for the
task. Noah didn’t start building the Ark
until God was ready to bring the flood.
I was 67 when I started writing these. Just be open to the message he sends to
you. He will send you in the direction
he needs you to go, provide the propulsion with his grace, and keep you on the
path. No sails, no oars, no rudder. Just God using you to accomplish his goals.
