There is something very sad in seeing a beautiful sailing ship sit, day after day, moored to the pier. She is made to take on the ocean and travel far and wide and yet there she is, with sails furled, dock-lines secured to the bollards, sheets coiled and decks empty of any activity. As you survey the scene you wonder where’s she’s been, what she’s seen, what storms she’s encountered and what cargoes she’s delivered. But the bigger question is, why is she tied to the pier and not underway?
It reflects the failure to cast off and get underway with the outgoing tide, irrespective of the conditions of the sea or the intended destination. Whatever the reason, the longer she remains moored to the pier the harder it will be to get underway and things begin to breakdown as a result of not being used. Newton’s first law of motion (Inertia) applies… An object at rest will remain at rest unless acted on by a unbalanced force. An object in motion continues in motion with the same speed and int the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Or perhaps a better way of putting it would be that there is a natural tendency of objects to keep on doing what they are doing.
What a perfect picture of some members of the bride of Christ who are trying to keep one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God, uncertain of what casting off will ultimately lead to. Or maybe its the uncertainty of how to get underway without sufficient wind for the sails or the look of the sky. And so, like that sailing ship, they remain tied to the pier, day after day, contemplating “what if.” Little do they realize that if they will cast off with the outgoing tide they will get underway and the current will give them the ability to steer their ship along the course they have been given by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes that may even be casting off without any specific direction being assigned… course and speed to be given after casting off.
Paul put this uncertainty in perspective for us in his letter to the Romans…
Rom 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
There is no way that we can present our bodies a living sacrifice while we stay moored to the world’s dock. And for those who say they are waiting to get “sailing orders” before they cast off, I would remind you that often the captain in the time of war gets sealed orders that are not to be opened until he is underway. It’s the same for us. More often than not the Holy Spirit will tell us to cast off with a general heading with specific orders to follow at a later time. But whether our orders are clearly stated before sailing or are to be delivered later, the order is the same… cast off!
We carry a precious cargo that the Lord wants delivered to a port somewhere out there on the ocean of life. It may be a short voyage or it may be a long one, but in either case the orders are the same. We are not to remain moored to the pier… we are not to be conformed to this world! The captain of ship takes his orders from the admiral and casts off trusting in those orders and the admiral’s wisdom in delivering them. And likewise it is not for us to question the orders of the leader of the Army of God. Ours is but to trust and obey, to cast off with the certainty that He is on board with us and will see that we deliver our precious cargo if we will follow His orders which, without a doubt, will require a number of mid-course corrections, corrections that we will not hear if we are not listening once we are underway.
Far too many true believers remain moored to the pier of this world while the Kingdom of God is at war with the god of this world. He has gifted each of His captains with all they need to complete the assigned voyage and deliver the precious cargo of the gospel, when and where He directs. We cannot ignore His orders just because we are “uncertain” of the destination or the state of the ocean we are to sail upon. Rather, let’s be ever ready to cast off the moment we get our orders; orders we get because we have been listening for the voice of the Spirit. And like Paul, we need to be obedient to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God by casting off the moment we receive our orders.
PS – I wrote a longer article on this a number of years ago that still speaks volumes to me. It’s all about what to do after you cast off and sail into uncharted waters and the ensuing storms in order to deliver your cargo… Hold What You’ve Got!