No Sail, No Rudder

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 120^th 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.