Sails A Flapping

Two blogs ago, I wrote about a sail on a clipper ship that the Lord had shown me. The weekend following I happened to watch "Master and Commander" with Russell Crowe. It is the tale of HMS Surprise that pursues the French frigate, "Ascheron". This sea epic takes place during the Napoleonic Wars when England and France were at bitter blows.

During one scene, there is a terrible storm and a number of the sails are flapping wildly. At that moment I realized that the Lord was again showing me something about sails and the Christian life. Sails that are not tied down are useless and even worse, run the risk of being damaged and damaging the ship. In the movie, sailors had to climb the masts in order to gain control over the sails by strapping them to the cross beam. Only then could the ship be managed. Everything was in chaos until the sails were harnessed.

That is our story. It does not matter how strong or large or powerful our sails are, they were worthless until strapped to the cross beam of Christ. And the larger the sail, the more dangerous the situation becomes if left to flap in the wind it would tear or even worse, permanently damage our ship.

We do not like to be "tied down" and yet it it is only when we are tied down that we save our life. If we try to save our life we will lose it, but if we lose (give up--surrender) our freedom, we will find perfect freedom--our destiny--our purpose for being.

Once strapped down, we enter into the full power God and what He has designed for us to be. Holes in the canvas produce weak sails. Sails that are not tied down produce dangerous sails. What is the area of your life that is flapping today? Why not surrender that particular sail to the gracious hand of the Captain of our Souls and let Him harness you to the wind of His Spirit.

Blessings,
Father Scott +