Sailing With The Holy Spirit

It was a calm, windless day. Despite the weather, the members of the sailing club were hopeful they would soon be launching their boats.

Their sails were ready, but … with no wind and only calm waters, no-one was going anywhere!

Some sailors tried to manoeuvre their crafts by paddling into the open water and propelling with their hands, but they soon realised that their efforts were being wasted.

They decided to join the people in the club house and wait for the wind. It was only after several hours that a gentle breeze began to blow and soon people were in their boats.  Now, with full sails, they skimmed out towards the open sea.

This scenario is a reminder of how God and the Holy Spirit can work in our lives.

The Bible sometimes describes the Holy Spirit as a rushing wind and sometimes, like the sailors, we may have to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

There are occasions, from a spiritual standpoint, when nothing seems to be happening for weeks and months on end. During these waiting times we may wonder what purpose God has for us.

The impatient sailors are a reminder to us that we can do nothing without the Holy Spirit. Those sailors soon discovered that without the directing power of the wind, they were wasting their time and energy. It can be tempting for us to think we can go it alone, and not be guided by the Holy Spirit.

The people in the sailing club might have left their boats to do other things, but they were also watching for signs around them of the coming wind. No one was packing up and going home! They were waiting with a purpose.

In our times of stillness and waiting, we can watch for the signs of the Holy Spirit as He works in the Church, within the community and within the global world.

We pray and worship together, and enjoy social times with each other, in readiness for God and the Holy Spirit to move us into the pathway that they have planned for our future.

Our waiting times may have come on us due to various circumstances. The outlook seem to us to not be very encouraging. But God is always with us and He knows what we need now, and how He can use us in the future.

Those sailors on the shore anticipated their time when they could be afloat. Similarly, in our waiting times we anticipate to do the things that God and the Holy Spirit wish us to accomplish!

And the time will soon come when we are guided, prompted, incited and directed by the wind of God and the Holy Spirit and they will always move us in the right direction.

Let’s put up the sails to let God and the Holy Spirit blow afresh into our lives!