The Cruise Ship

We are all on the cruise ship called Life and each of our cruise ships are in different waters.  Some are raging waters with no sight of calm, some are rough waters with occasional pools of calm, some are dark, murky waters with no clear vision, and some are calm and serene with occasional riffs of roughness.  In all cases, this is our life and all of us have to go through each one of these types of waters.  But here’s what God was showing me about our cruise ships.

The thing about a cruise ship is we can CHOOSE the type of life we want to live on that ship.  I went on a cruise once and it was one of the coolest trips I’ve made.  The calmness of the water and the soothing lapping sound of the water slapping up against the hull of the ship when no one was around was truly a meditative experience.  I’d even get up before the sunrise to catch that luminous orb cresting the ocean horizon with some foreign country as the backdrop.  But on the same cruise ship were those who chose to party hard.  There are events  and parties at all hours of the day to suit any one person’s particular taste in lifestyle. 

I’ve lived that later way, long ago – it was empty to me.  I would wake up in the mornings continuing to wonder what my purpose was, often asking myself, “is this all there is to life?”  When I didn’t get an answer, I’d hit the scene again.  And again – it was such a repetitive sorrow for me. 

 

I had to find more to life – the choices I was making on cruise ship were affecting the waters that cruise ship traveled.  I’ve been on those raging waters where you feel the whole ship will capsize.  In fact, that’s why I haven’t posted anything for several days.  I’ve been in raging waters.  Raging waters I had no control over but affected me none the less.  Waters that drove me even closer to my Maker ,into intimate conversations and prayers too personal to share with anyone but those who are in the calm of the sea and can be a life preserver to me.  Raging waters where I didn’t see a place of calm, yet the minute I started praising my God, the calm would appear.  It was our own little pool of calm in the raging, tumultuous water all around us.  Like we were placed in a bubble for a moment to sustain the storm – to give us a little breather.

We are still in the midst of that storm, but the wonderful thing is God has given us a peace that passes ALL understanding.  My initial responses to these raging waters is to be anxious, but through prayer and thanksgiving, I receive that peace.

Philippians 4:6-8

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Meditate on These Things ⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

I’ve been walking as a Christian for 30 years, now, and it amazes me how I can get caught in those raging waters and totally freak out and lose faith!  I can’t imagine how it is for someone to walk in faith when they’ve had no experience with our King!  With the One who brings that peace that passes understanding.  The One who loves us beyond measure, even more than a parent could possibly love their child.  But Jesus calms the raging storm.  

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus

Matthew 8:²³ Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. ²⁴ And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. ²⁵ Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” ²⁶ But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

We are going to have great tempests arise out of the seas of lives and our ship is going to get covered with waves – we’ve got to make choices on how we are going to address those tempests.  I’ve done it all ways.  I’ve chosen to “handle” it on my own, ignoring the fact that I have a Savior who makes the wind and waves obey Him and I’ve chosen to trust in the ONE who can deliver me from death.  I must say, however, my first reaction is to usually freak out and start down the path of “self”.  It reminds of the war raging in our soul: 

Romans 7:²¹ I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. ²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. ²⁴ O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? ²⁵ I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

Through this current storm, Karl and I have watched our God work in calming the seas around us.  The bottoms of the sea may still be trying to devour us, but there is a calm in the midst of it all.  We KNOW who is at the helm of our cruise ship.  We don’t know how to be the captain of our cruise ship, but Jesus does.  I choose – yes CHOOSE – to give the helm over to God, through Jesus Christ.

Joshua 24:15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

The dream I had last night didn’t really have much to do with this particular writing, but this is the direction God sent me and a great precursor to Part 2, The Treasure on the Cruise Ship.


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