Our pilot

 

We need one who knows the waters.

I am happily positioned by the window of the only open café on our ship at 6:00 AM, sipping tea and reading Scripture as we cruise off the western coast of Canada. The light is diffused by mist. Occasional islands glide by, all hunched silhouettes. Everything distant is undefined; only the near waves are in focus.

Suddenly, right below me, a small boat appears, surprisingly solid on a featureless sea. It is a pilot from a nearby Canadian port, though I have no clue as to which one. It moves crisply through the water, throwing foamy spray with every dip of its bow as it sidles closer to the ship.

A pilot boat brings personal service. It transports a local pilot to guide the ship through regional waters, understanding the currents and hidden shoals better than those on board. Before this one slides out of my view, I see a man emerge from the helm station and crouch down on the ship side. I don’t see him board.

It gets me thinking about how superior this is to a lighthouse, which is on my mind since I took this shot while leaving the harbor.

A lighthouse simply warns passing sailors of the rocky dangers nearby. But a pilot does far more. He comes aboard and guides the ship from inside, coming alongside the crew’s pilot to give expert advice.

How much like the Spirit in our lives!

 Since we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also be guided.     Gal. 5:25

The Spirit gives us life and then remains. I realize how I take that for granted. He doesn’t retreat to the shore and send us a beacon to follow. He comes aboard. He remains at the helm with us, pointing out the dangers looming just on the edge of our awareness.

We recently moved to Virginia. (Hence the long silence. But more of that in another post.) Any new venue in life can be uncharted waters. There are new opportunities, but also unexpected challenges, some of which come from blindness to our own submerged shoals – sinful tendencies, unrecognized prejudices, bad habits.

He sees these much clearer than we do. That’s why it’s so helpful to have him in our inner ear, pointing the way. I wonder how often ship pilots ignore the advice, privately huffy about being told what to do. Pride could get in the way. I know it does with my exchanges with that inner Pilot.

How foolish it is to ignore such expert advice! I want to tune in better to the Spirit, to open myself up to his view of the water around me.

Permission to come aboard?  Of course! You’re just in time!

Our great Pilot, only you know the hidden shoals of our heart. Guide us past those things on which we would recklessly throw ourselves onto without your insight and wisdom.

Reader: What hidden shoal has the Spirit guided you past recently?