Who is Jesus? #137

I remember as a kid getting to go on a boat with my neighbor who was in the Coast Guard. On this particular day their job was to replace old buoys in Galveston Bay which were faded and ugly with bright new freshly painted ones. The technique was somewhat monotonous, but it provided a whole day of activity - pick up one buoy and replace it with another which had the same number on it.


The exciting part of the day was when I got to steer the boat. I have driven smaller fishing boats but never a large tug boat like this one. In addition, this boat was pushing a barge that had all of the buoys on it. If you can imagine, it was sort of like pushing a trailer with your car rather than pulling it. You had to think backwards in order to steer the boat where you wanted it to go.

Of course the real helmsman was standing there right behind me telling me exactly what to do in order to avoid all of the other vessels in the channel as well as other objects. He would say turn right or left (port or starboard) and then tell me to stop. I am pretty sure that I would have made a mess of things if he hadn’t been there with me. Of course when he was steering everything worked just like it was supposed to.

There is an obvious comparison here to Jesus. Or, is there? I believe we are interested most of the time in steering our own ship through life. There are a lot of obstacles out there to avoid. It would be great to let the master helmsman at the wheel. We do have one of those, but we have to be ready for Jesus to steer where we ought to go and not where we necessarily want to go. Remember when Jesus told his disciples, "let's go to the other side of the lake, (Mark 4:35)."  These seasoned sailors knew about those terrible windstorms that could explode on the lake at anytime. It probably would have been O.K.with them to journey around the lake rather than straight across.
Relinquishing the helm is tough. Listen to the comfort of these scriptures.

Psalm 34:19 19

A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;

Isaiah 43:2 2

 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

We used to sing that old song, "Jesus Savior Pilot Me"  For many of us it seems we are willing to let Jesus take over when life is tough, but when the sailing is smooth, we want our own hands on the wheel. Jesus will not be a part-time helmsman! He either has the wheel or He doesn't. Take over, Jesus. Steady as she goes!
Are you full yet?