This verse in the Bible where they are in the boat and there is a storm and God is sleeping within the boat is really symbolic of us being the boat with God operating deep within us. So often we are asleep to the fact that God is within us waiting to direct the boat, if only we would be still, stop panicking, and just listen. We are all vessels sailing through the sea of life with God at the helm if only we would wake up to the realization of who lives within our boat.
Often, we panic when the seas get a little rough. Fighting for control of the wheel (our lives) from the captain is what causes our ships to capsize. We are called to learn and get to know our captain. We are called to have a relationship with Him, so we feel safe when the seas get choppy. When we understand the level of skill our Captain has with navigating through the turbulent seas of our life, we are more apt to relax, rest, and enjoy the ride knowing we are safe because we are in great hands. When we can lean back and fully trust our captain, we learn that no matter how it may appear, the truth is that we are always safe.
Our captain is not only a captain, but also a great carpenter. He built the boat and intimately knows all the material that it is made of and what seas it sails best in. Sometimes, to build our faith in his skill, he allows us to see the compass and teaches us to read it. This allows us to gain a bit of comfort by receiving a glimpse of which direction he is taking us in. When we are busy fighting for control of the wheel, we forget that we have access to the compass. We wouldn’t need to stress and worry about the direction our ship was going in if we stopped to check in with the compass the captain so graciously showed us how to use.
The compass consists of the built-in signals within our body that allow us to know when something feels good or slightly off and we need to shift direction. It is the in explainable bodily feelings that queue us in to whether we’re in the right place and heading in the right direction or whether we’ve gone terribly off course.
The problem is many of us don’t trust the captain and we have never quite learned how to read the compass accurately. Many of us aren’t even aware that there is a compass. Some of us are aware, but we are reading it wrong. Others can read the compass and are choosing to fight for the wheel when it seems the captain is making a change to the charted course. In these times, we are really comfortable with the direction we are going and don’t want to head off into uncharted territory for fear of the unknown.
Our captain will never steer us wrong considering he invested hours upon hours, and many resources building the boat with his own hands… think Noah and the Ark. He takes pride in the boat because it is his life’s work. He definitely wants to ensure it is taken care of and is safe. Our captain wants to vacation in paradise on the boat He built, but he has an obnoxious passenger aboard who talks over Him, gets belligerent and strong arms the wheel from Him, and doesn’t trust his expertise insisting that he knows where they are going and how to best get there… even though he has no boating experience.
In short, God is the captain… we are the vessel and the belligerent passenger. Our role is to check in with the compass when we feel uneasy, listen to and take direction from the captain, and most importantly, allow him to navigate the boat. We just need to check in with the compass and the captain to make sure we are in alignment with the direction that the captain set for our ship to sail and we will surely be led to paradise.