I enjoy analogies. I often use them when trying to explain something to someone. This morning I work up at 3:30 AM with the song “Ships in the Night” playing in my head.
I am not sure why that song as I have not heard it in a while, but it did turn my mind towards thinking about one of my favorite board games as a kid, Battleship. Battleship is a game of strategy and in my opinion, a bit of luck. I have played it strategically, methodically, and randomly all with different results, but regardless of the method of play the player is in control as to where they set their ships on the board.
This got me thinking about how GOD is in Control. It is my belief that throughout our lives GOD places people in our paths, just like one places their ships in Battleship. I believe GOD gives us free will but also knows what choice we will make since he sits outside of time. All that to say, it is our choice to interact with those GOD puts in our path, to find those ships per se. Which takes me back to Ships in the Night?
Ships in the Night is an idiom that is at least 150 years old as it was written in Tales of a Wayside Inn, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1863, where it reads: “Ships that pass in the night, and speak [to] each other in passing, Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.” The question is how many people has GOD put in your path that you overlooked, ignored, or just did not see? I am sure for me it has been many. I also wonder how many times GOD has put me in the path of others to meet their needs at certain points in their life.
If we are like ships moving about the waters we may miss some ships in the night, but often we tie and fender together for many days, weeks, months, and/or years? Sometimes the line breaks and a ship will float away. Other times the captain just steers the ship in another direction at top speed. Then there are those times that the ship breaks down and sinks. As you watch the ship sink into the abyss, you may be sad but you know that one day your ship will join theirs.
I pray you will open your heart to the Holy Spirit and let HIM guide you through this sea of life. Let HIM alert you to those GOD has sent your way. They may be in your life for a moment or a lifetime; just know GOD is in Control you just have to be willing to listen and not let ships in the night pass you by.
I pray that you have a relationship with the FATHER and believe in what JESUS did for you and me through the Cross and Resurrection. Satan’s dark abyss is a place you do not want to spend eternity in. If you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus it is never too late to start one today.
DON’T LET JESUS BE A SHIP IN THE NIGHT FOR YOU!!!
