“A nimble faith enables us to stop and respond to the guiding voice of the Lord.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – April 15, 2021
You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? Galatians 5:7 (NLT)
Over the years, I’ve tried to cultivate an eye that sees the world through a symbolic lens. The everyday events that swirl around us have the capacity to remind us of eternal truths, ways in which the world truly holds together and works at a cosmic level. Though it can be difficult to sustain this posture, much wisdom is gained when we find inspiration for our personal struggle of faith from the rhythms and occurrences of daily life.
I say this, because along with countless others around the world, in recent weeks I attentively followed the story of the shipping vessel that brought the world’s economy to a standstill. For days on end, the Ever Given, a ship as long as the Empire State Building is high, brought traffic on the Suez Canal to a halt as high winds and low visibility from a sandstorm made passage of the canal impossible. And while many symbolic life lessons can be drawn from this story, I find myself today reflecting on one simple aspect that seems worthy of further consideration: the time it takes to stop.
In a recent news article, I noticed the great challenge for a container vessel in moments like these is its inability to make a sudden course correction. If adverse conditions quickly arise, there is simply no time to respond. It takes the ship roughly 2 miles and 15 minutes just to come to a stop! Though the way before them is straight and clear, and they set their course for an uninterrupted passage, the weight they carry means any unexpected disturbance has the ability to derail the entire mission.
It is here that I find a word of warning and wisdom for our own journeys of faith. Like ships at sea, our lives are meant to be a journey that begins with grace and ends with glory. We must set our sights on the goal and do all we can to arrive safely at our glorious destination. And while there may be seasons of clear skies and calm seas, gusts of wind and sandstorms can swirl about, often arriving without even a moment’s notice.
When visibility is compromised, we mustn’t continue to press on in the darkness. Wisdom invites us to pause, to stop and recollect ourselves and ask the Lord to bring clarity to the confusion of our lives. Yet in order to do so, we must live unencumbered by sin or weighed down by the cares and concerns of this world. In a sense, we are invited into a nimble faith, one that is able to stop quickly when the Lord invites us to pause, so that we can then restart our journey in the confidence and trust that we are following as the Lord leads.
Prayer
Father, free us from the sins that hold us down and make it difficult for us to hear and respond to your voice, we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Application
What weight do you carry in your own life that makes it difficult for you to live a nimble and responsive faith?
Related Reading
1 Corinthians 9:24; Philippians 3:14; Hebrews 12:1-3
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