Life Is Like a Sailboat

Acts 27:4  “From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.”

Several years ago some friends and I decided to go sailing on a small sailboat we had rented.  I was the “experienced” sailor in the group, taking all of my experience that I had learned from my previous sailing experiences sailboarding back in college some 15 years earlier.  Though I hadn’t sailed one day since then, it’s like riding a bike right?  Wrong!

We started by stopping off at a new Kentucky Fried Chicken that was on the way to the lake about 30 minutes away.  We were starving and ready to eat but decided to wait until we got onto the sailboat and could enjoy lunch on the water.

We got the sailboat unloaded, hopped in and slowly the sailing I’d learned years ago started to come back.  With the wind behind us it was easy sailing.  After about thirty minutes we were well into the middle of the lake and decided it was a good time to break out the chicken.  First I wanted to come about and start tacking our way back along the shore.  I released the lines to let the sail adapt to the wind.  As I started to turn the sail boat into the wind the line got caught not allowing the sail to release as we made our turn.  About that same time a strong gust of wind came, caught the sail sending the sail boat, all four of us and the chicken (most importantly) flying into the water as the sail boat capsized.  It was a funny scene.  The boat flipped, we all fell into the water, the bucket of chicken floated on the water there for a few seconds like it was waiting for all of us to get a good look at it first, then slowly started to sink to the bottom of the lake.  We tried grabbing it but it was too late and just out of our reach.  The fish had a nice meal that day.  I wish someone had caught it on video because I have no doubt that it would have won the grand prize video on Americas Funniest Videos.

Well, we did get the sailboat back to shore and ended up having a fun day in spite of my inexperience, but did have to delay lunch a couple of hours.  Later that day as I was relaying my experience to a friend that was an avid sailor, he said one of his favorite saying was “Adjusting sails is key. You can’t control the wind but you can adjust the sails.”

Throughout history, man has learned how to harness the wind to its advantage. Even so still the wind can become so overpowering such as with a tornado or hurricane.  I’ve experienced them both.  Sometimes being at the mercy of the wind is scary.

If the wind is like circumstances in our lives we have no control over,   sometimes we can adjust the sails and go on our merry way.  We have accepted our circumstances and adapted.  All throughout Acts 27, the wind seemed to dictate where they were going.  They knew where they wanted to go which was Rome.  However, each ship Paul was on seemed to be at the total mercy of the wind.  The wind caused them to change paths, take longer routes, etc.  It was scary but in the end, God used these circumstances to His good.  Paul saw that and kept believing, praying, kept allowing God to be the wind of his life.

There is one that is able to control the winds (Mark 4:41).  In times when the winds are too strong sometimes the best thing to do is to drop your sails, hold on as tight as we can, and trust in the wind and the source behind the wind.  Fighting it can only create more struggles leading us to capsize and have our total lives be turned upside down.

In those times, even though trusting may be the hardest thing to do, all we have then is to hope, trust, and pray.

Psalms 56:3 “When I am afraid, I will trust in You!”

James 1:6 “But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”