The Skilled Sailor
“A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” One of my favorite quotes on life, insinuating that we learn from challenging experiences.
Once , in Indonesia, in an area known as the Thousand Islands in the Java Sea, I was taking an open air boat with about 50 people to a nearby island. Among the islands, many small boulders peak out of the sea, ready to wreak havoc on a boat. Skilled sailors maneuver around the hazards, navigating to different islands.
It was a beautiful day, bright sun shining as we left the dock. We remained at the island until just about dusk, when the boat came back to pick us up. Well, the calm day turned nasty, as a vicious storm arose when we were in the middle of the sea. Swells must have been 20 feet plus. It felt like I could reach out and touch the boulders peaking out of the sea as the boat rocked. I knew we were going down as the ship swayed back and forth. People and kids were frantic, which didn’t help the situation. We were all helpless, nature could do whatever it wanted to us.
But, the captain of the ship calmly passed out life jackets. He never lost his composure but somehow maneuvered the ship through the danger back to the pier safely. I remember getting off the boat and catching eyes with the captain. Not speaking the language, he tipped a bottle of whiskey at me, laughing. This was not the captain’s first rodeo. He had been there before. He had experience to handle the situation. He was a skilled sailor. The water remained rough, but he handled the vessel. My life was in the hands of the skilled sailor.
In Matthew 18, Jesus gets into the boat with his disciples, starting off on a smooth sea. Out of nowhere, a “furious storm” arises.
Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” Matthew 8:23-28
The disciples found themselves in rough water. They needed a skilled sailor. They ran to the one that could control all. Then, the impossible happens. Behind the words of Jesus, the raging sea goes to “great calm.” The water becomes still. Imagine the disciples looking at each other as nature obeys Jesus. When they faced their next difficult experience, they knew where to run. This experience taught the disciples where to place their dependence, the one that controls all. The ultimate skilled sailor of life.
This year, it is inevitable, that we will face difficult situations. Those times that arise unexpectedly, out of left field. The water will get tumultuous. The seas will rage. Run to the one that controls nature. He can steady the ship. When things seem out of control, His presence provides an indescribable stillness.
The greatest news is that He is always there. In Matthew 28:20, Jesus says, “And I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
Once, in a storm of life myself, I didn’t have words to pray. I remember sitting in tears. Matthew 28:20 came to mind, and I recited it over and over, saying, “I don’t know anything else, but I know that you are with me.” He stilled my soul.
He is with us in the storms.
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