Letters Written on Our Hearts

To break the monotony of the quarantine, my husband and I decided to go to the Lake nearby our home and drink our coffee in front of the calm waters. Our conversation turned to various struggles in our lives over the years with certain circumstances, difficult relationships and stressful situations. Steve began talking about these trials in terms of resistance and used the comparison of a sailboat. Now he really had my interest because I know how gifted he is at object lessons of this sort. I asked him to tell me more.

He explained that sailboats move easily with the wind when it is at their backs but not so easy when the wind is blowing straight against them. The person navigating the boat must use great skill to go against the flow. He made a comparison with how the sail is shaped as an airfoil like the wings of a plane and the pressure or resistance lifts the plane in the same way it powers a sailboat. He went on to explain a sailor intending to travel in line with the wind would have to zig zag back and forth to reach its goal. When this “tacking” technique is used, the boat can travel in any direction, regardless of the direction of the wind.

I have to admit, the more he got into physics, the more my eyes glazed over and my relational brain was straining to make an application (this man got an A in physics in college by the way). The thing I did pick up was the idea of resistance and how without it, the sailboat did not have the power to move forward.

I leaned into him…so how did we go from our original subject about trials and struggles to talking about sailboats?

Sometimes when we face resistance in our lives, we get impatient, and do not want to make adjustments and keep “catching the power in the wind” to move us forward. God’s Spirit is like the  wind. It is interesting also that the Hebrew word for Spirit actually means wind or breath. We can’t see the wind, but we know it has power, and God’s Spirit within us has the power to help us with anything we are struggling with. The Scripture puts it this way.

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So, let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James 1: 2-4 NLT

Object Lesson for the day: When we face trials and resistance, don’t give up, be joyful and sail on my friend!