Welcome Jesus Into Your Boat!

O, God, Thy sea is so great,

and my boat is so small.

~unknown

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Then His disciples were eager 

to let Jesus into their storm-tossed boat, 

and immediately 

they arrived at their destination.

John 6:21

Sail On! Sail On!

I know many people, as do you, Dear Reader, who are coping with pain and deteriorating health and loss and financial difficulties and…the list goes on and on. I thought of them and their struggles (and my own, as well) this morning when I read an uplifting poem by J. R. Miller. I found it in the Feb. 11^th devotional in Streams in the Desert.

The poet wrote about an imaginary conversation between Christopher Columbus (the Admiral) and his Mate as they and the rest of the crew sailed to the New World. Before them was “only shoreless seas.” When the Mate felt they should pray, since the very stars they needed for navigation were gone on that dark night, he asked the Admiral what he should say.

The Admiral replied, “Why, say, ‘Sail on! Sail on! And on!’”

When the Mate said his men were growing more mutinous every day and that they were ghastly pale and weak, he asked again what he should say, if, the next morning, all they could see was sea.

The Admiral’s answer was the same: “‘Sail on! sail on! and on!’”

When the Mate described the sea as having “lifted teeth, as if to bite,” he begged the Admiral to tell him what to do, since hope was gone.

His answer: “’Sail on! sail on! and on!’”

As you know, Dear Reader, the Admiral and his crew eventually reached land and gave the world “its grandest lesson: “On! sail on!”

May this lesson encourage us to sail on. Surely, surely, smoother seas and welcoming shores are just ahead!

"...we are always of good courage...

for we walk [live--and sail on!] by faith, 

not by sight."

~Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:6-7, ESV

I took this photo in San Francisco in 2005. Little did I know then that God would want me to use it on this blog, which I had not even imagined or created at that time. Thankfully, God enabled me to EASILY find this photo though it is among thousands and thousands stored on various hard drives. Praise Him!!!!!

Constant Calm Within

The same message came from various sources this morning during my daily quiet time. I found it in the entire Jan. 29^th reading in Streams in the Desert, particularly in these words attributed to R. Leighton:  And when God is the center of a soul, although disasters may crowd in on all sides and roar like the waves of the sea, there is a constant calm within. The world can neither give nor take away this kind of peace.

I found it in the entire Jan. 29^th reading in The Listening Heart, especially in these words: In Me are peace and calm and serenity. Be filled with all the fullness of Me. All is well.

And…I’d heard the same message the day before as I listened to Kay Arthur’s podcast, Who’s in the Boat with You?

Oh, how I needed those messages as the storms of life raged all around me, causing me to fear the future! Dear Reader, are you, too, in the middle of a storm—or see dark clouds forming on the horizon? Do you feel like you’re either going to sink or be swept away by the waves of troubles pounding hard against your small boat as you travel on the sea of life?

If so, there’s good news! We are not alone! Our God is in the boat with us. He has the power to calm the storms! He has the power to calm us! And He will if only we will focus on Him, if only we will see Him right beside us.

Let's let Him quiet our hearts as we read Matthew 8:23-27, John 14:1, Philippians 4:4-9, Psalm 65:7, and many other Scripture passages that assure us we can have constant calm within even when the storm is raging.

You keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed [focused] on you,

because he trusts in you.

Isaiah 26:3, ESV

I was very grateful to have a knowledgeable, experienced captain at the helm of the boat headed into the Everglades and a portion of the Gulf of Mexico. I am infinitely more thankful to know Jesus is at the helm of my boat as I journey on the sea of  life.