The Captain of Your Ship
A 16-person pontoon boat. It’s a fairly windy day and we’re working to get the boat off the trailer and into the water. It’s been two years since I’ve driven this thing. Trying to remember past lessons I’ve learned when captaining the boat, I fire up the engine and we’re slowly backed into the water.
I learned an unexpected lesson as I had the throttle and wheel solely in my hands. See, responsibility is an interesting thing. There’s a heaviness to it, is there not? How one makes decisions in this space matters.
The engine rumbling, we detach from the trailer and the boat’s suddenly mine. Making sure the engine is pointing straight, I pull the throttle back to ease us into a slow reverse. I have plenty of room from the docks on either side. I have an idea of how I want to get us out in the open lake, and it’s being executed just fine, but there’s still this sort of nervousness hanging over me.
We made it out, did a lap, and it’s the moment just after we picked up my Dad I want to hone in on. As we’re slowly backing out again, he takes the wheel and sits down in the captain’s seat. Immediately, I felt myself relax. The boat was no longer in my hands. I’d given up control to someone I trust to keep me safe.
I believe fully in my Dad’s ability to captain the boat. When he’s at the helm, there’s nothing for me to fear. It hit me, is this not so similar to our life and how we relate to God? There’s the saying, “if it is to be it’s up to me.” That’s always terrified me, because that means I’m in the boat on my own – without any help.
There is, however, another way to live. For those of us who believe in God, we believe in something called sovereignty. This means that God is in control of everything. There’s not a drop of rain that comes down that’s outside of God’s knowledge. I know, for some of you, this word might leave an uncomfortable taste in your mouth – trust me, I get that.
If we believe God’s Word is true, we also know that, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
When we hear words like sovereignty, it’s easy for us to look to the terrible thing that happened in the world yesterday or that scar you have from that person who hurt you years ago and throw it all out. But what if the above words in the Book of Isaiah are true? And in God’s captaincy, His wielding of control is so much greater and outside of our comprehension.
As Paul says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). So, not only does God’s Word say His ways are far beyond our ways, His Word also says that in those greater ways, He’s working for your good. A good that you couldn’t possibly arrive at without His direction.
I need to be honest here too. It has been a struggle for me to let go of the wheel of my life. It’s funny too, because indecision straps me and yet I still wrestle with the desire to be in control. Maybe today you and I need to be reminded of this – there is no greater driver of your life than God Himself. Not only is He trustworthy – He’s good.
I don’t know where you find yourself in this dance today. Do you have a thirst for greater control, do you struggle to see God as trustworthy, or maybe the act of letting go feels to be too much. I want to encourage you to bring where you’re at to the Lord in prayer. Let Him know where you’re struggling. And then, even if your words are said in an act of declarative faith, tell Him He has the wheel of your life. Let’s hop on board and see where our good God takes us – there’s no safer place to be.
