Get in the Boat

Recently, a local pastor preached on the account in Matthew chapter 8 when the disciples were sailing across the sea and a violent storm arose. The pastor then posed an interesting question. If you knew everything that you would face by following Jesus, would you get in the boat? If you knew you would face the storm, would you get in the boat? If you knew you would be ridiculed, face hardships, danger, uncertainty, and the like, would you get in the boat?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the question posed to me in that sermon. The truth of the matter is we humans like to have answers. We like to have knowledge. We like to have control of the situation...or at least think we do. There is just something comforting about being “in the know” … or is there?

Adam and Eve knew a lot, but the knowledge that their Creator gave them everything they needed just wasn’t enough. They had to know more...they had to know what it would be like to do the one thing ... the ONE THING … God told them not to do. I am certain that there wasn’t near as much comfort in their lives after they got that bit of knowledge. Yes, I would say that Adam and Eve are prime examples of those who learned the hard way that sometymes knowledge isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Back in the 90s (and yes, I’m in that group who thinks “last decade” when I think about the 90s) Garth Brooks came out with a song, written by Tony Arata, called The Dance. The gist of the song is wrapped up in the line, “My life is better left to chance, I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss the dance”.

… Now, I’m going to pause here and make it clear that I do not believe our lives are ever left to chance. I believe wholeheartedly that God created us for a purpose, and He has a plan for us. God does not deal in “chance” … though He does give us many chances to keep trying to do things right. Okay, un-pause...

The Dance is a song that basically says, “If I knew what was coming, I would have missed out on the blessings along the way, because there’s no way I would have chosen the pain I’m in right now.” Or to relate the song to the sermon, “If I had known what was coming, there is no way I would have gotten in this boat...any boat but this one!”

There is another biblical boat account that comes to mind as I consider this question. Jonah. You know, God told Jonah exactly what he was supposed to do AND He told Jonah the outcome. Jonah knew and he refused to get in the right boat and rebelliously (and selfishly) chose to get in the wrong boat … which, in the end, turned out to be a giant fish. Jonah is a proven example that knowing what’s coming is not always an incentive to get in the boat. Jonah wanted to miss the dance, and everything related to it, because he did not want God to do what God said He was going to do. Jonah couldn’t understand God’s plan and therefore stumbled, rebelled and became fish food.

Truth be told, these days, I rather feel like fish food myself. Oh, not that I am purposely rebelling like Jonah did, but because the boat God asked me to board is currently sailing through some difficult storms. I feel like I am being swallowed up by circumstances beyond my control and wondering if I will ever be spit out onto dry land.

The more I consider the pastor’s question, the more I realize that my answer to it changes depending on the placement of my focus. When I am focused on The Captain, The One with all the answers, The One Who knows where each piece of the puzzle fits and can see the big picture, then my answer is yes; yes, I would get in the boat. However, when my focus is on the boat or the waters on which I am sailing or just the tiny piece of the puzzle that I can see and understand, then my answer is, “no thank you, I’ll walk.” (At least I am polite about it!)

Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding”. … and it says that because as humans, we are not able to understand much. If all we had to go on was our own understanding, our boat would sink pretty quick. On the other hand, when we trust that The Lord has things under control, our vessel is unsinkable. Much like Peter, when he got out of the boat on the stormy sea and tried to walk to Jesus, he was atop the waters when his focus was on Jesus, but when he put his focus on himself, he began to drown.

In Romans 8:28 we read, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

This verse basically defines the boat (all things) and the reason we get in the boat (His purpose). God’s purpose is His understanding, not ours. I don’t understand why things are difficult, why people are hurtful or why I have to go through these fish food moments in life. But I’ve learned (and I’ll have to relearn it many more tymes) that focusing on what I don’t understand is exhausting and gets me nowhere. However, when I focus on my Captain, and the fact that He is busy creating good things for me because I love Him and He has called me to His purpose, then things get better. When I am sailing for Him, it is well with my soul!

You see, knowing is not understanding. If we knew everything we would face when we chose to follow Jesus, we wouldn’t understand it. We wouldn’t understand it and therefore we wouldn’t choose it. We wouldn’t get in the boat, just like the disciples likely wouldn’t have gotten in the boat if they had known about the storm.

The pastor’s over all message when he asked that question, was that following Christ doesn’t mean taking an inventory of the possible issues that might arise, it means doing what God asks you to do, no matter what; it means getting in the boat, knowing only that God is its Captain.

So, where is our focus? Are we sailing along peacefully in the storm with our eyes fixed on The Captain and His understanding or are we reeling in the chaos because we’re focused on things we don’t understand? It’s easy to let things like fear, worry, burdens, and a myriad of other worldly concerns shift our focus, but that shift is what rocks the boat. People will hurt us and disappointments will come; struggles will arise, and storms will hit, but it’s better to be in the boat that God called us to be in, than to be on dry land where He doesn’t want us to be. After all, dry land has storms too! Get in the boat!