Drifting?

 I saw a simple statement today. It merely said, "Noah's Ark didn't have a steering wheel." A simple statement yet a profound one. At least, profound to any who will take some time to think about it.

Now, if you know the biblical account of Noah and his Ark, you know that God directed Noah to build it, giving specific directions and measurements. He gave him specific instructions as to who should be with him on the ark. He told him when he and his family and all the animals he had been instructed to gather were to be on board. He told him exactly when he should close the doorway as the floodwaters began to rise. In time, the land was fully covered by water and the Ark was afloat, but afloat to where? We're told of no rudder or steering mechanism. All the Ark could do was drift on the water, which it did for a great deal of time. All they could do was go in the direction that the waters took them. All Noah and his family could do was trust the God who directed them into the Ark. Trust that He would get them to where He desired them to go. They did, and He did, and there's a teaching for us there.

We are called, in Christ, to be led of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit rarely gives any long range information about where He is leading us. The only "rudder" He gives us is His Word and His still small voice. It can often seem like we are drifting aimlessly, but we're not. He's at work, leading us through calm seas and stormy ones. Our part is to trust Him and obey Him, and to keep close to Him, following step by step. He will get us to where He means to in the best way and time. We'll be tempted to try and steer our lives according to our wisdom and understanding, but the end of this is always destructive on some level. 

The ancient Israelites wandered the wilderness for 40 years, seemingly going nowhere. Yet that was an illusion. All the while He was leading the way and constantly at work within them, transforming a people into what He desired them to be. We will have our own wilderness times. We'll have periods in our lives where all we seem to be doing is drifting aimlessly. If we are truly following Him, His call is to trust Him. He knows the way we are going, and the Way is in and through Jesus Christ. God's plan and purpose for Noah unfolded with the receding of the waters. There was never a moment when He was not directing the currents that carried the Ark. Neither will there be a moment when our own life currents will not be controlled and directed by Him. What seems to be is not our reality. He is. We can trust Him. He knows where we're going, and He is the Way, the only Way to get there. And He is with us all along the Way.

Blessings,
Pastor O