Ship Wrecked

Have you ever felt like you and your life are ship wrecked? Or you may feel like you are full tilt or lilting to one side? Maybe the winds of life have pushed you where you don’t want to go. Maybe the rains came so hard that you are lilting to one side and feeling totally off-balance. You may be taking on water and afraid of sinking and feel like no on cares! Sometimes you can bail and bail and bail, and it still seems like the storm is hitting your boat/life harder and faster than you can handle. It seems impossible to right your boat again. I know. I have been there.

Sometimes these times are of our own doing; decisions we made, not moving where God told us to move, not ending something that needed to be ended, a relationship God told us to stay away from or at least keep at a distance. It could be a number of things. However, it can also be life hitting us, and we are being tested, and we need to build our trust and faith. How are we going to react to our situation? Do we trust God to get us through it no matter how it looks? Remember the story of the Jesus and His followers in the boat and the storm came up? Jesus was down in the boat sleeping! Everybody else was freaking out! He came and spoke to the sea and it immediately became calm. Where was the faith of the followers? Seriously? Jesus was in their boat!! But their faith in Him and their trust in Him left with the first wave!

What about you? Does that same thing happen to you in your times of feeling blindsided? Here’s a little peek in my window of life: Have you ever thought about the fact that those hard times are not to push at your patience or tolerance level, but to BUILD strong character and endurance in you? When you can turn to Him first instead of getting angry or fearful, He will help you handle it. He will give you hope instead of being disappointed or losing your trust in Him. I found it helpful to just tell God what I’m feeling because He knows it anyway. So I go there to Him first. When you do, you will grow in relationship with Him, and that in turn, will cause you to grow in your love of God and better see His hand in your circumstances. Get that Bible out and search for answers, guidance and comfort. He wants to speak to you. It will direct you to a whole lot better self-talk in those times. If we don’t go “there” we open the door for the devil to discourage us. I would rather be shipwrecked with Jesus, then to go it alone. So, climb aboard and let’s sail off with some confidence that Jesus is in our boat!