Breathe: Think Sailing
John 3:5-8
Dr. J. Henry Jowett, an English preacher, was talking to an old salt about sailing a ship and he asked him, "Will you explain to me the phenomenon of the wind?" The seaman replied, "I don’t know what you mean, sir." Jowett persisted, "Well, how do you explain the wind which propels your great ship?" The sailor came back, "I don’t know anything about the wind, but I can hoist a sail." Then he writes, "Just so, the Christian may not be able to explain the movement of the Holy Spirit, but he can experience the Spirit’s power in his own life and ministry." There is probably no better metaphor for life in the Spirit than that of sailing. One is because in the Greek it doesn’t say Holy Spirit but Holy breath or holy wind. The second reason is that when you are living in the Spirit, you have to pay attention to the movement or direction of the wind. Third is the realization that you cannot do it by yourself but rather it takes a team and you have to yield to the wind. That is what life in the Spirit is all about.
In our Scripture today, Jesus is talking about being born again and the necessity of the Holy Spirit in your life. Paul was passing through Ephesus and he met these people who claimed to be believers. Well, the test to being a believer according to Jesus is having the Holy Spirit in your life and the evidence of the power of Jesus in you. So Paul asks them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “we have never heard of anything called the Holy Spirit.” If you don’t have the evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life then you aren’t a follower of Jesus.
If you are going to sail or live life in God to the fullest, then you need several things in your life. Bob Munford tells of a certain Italian harbor that can be reached only by sailing up a narrow channel between dangerous rocks and shoals. Over the years, many ships have wrecked, and navigation was hazardous. To guide the ships safely into port, three lights have been mounted in the harbor on three huge poles. When the three lights are perfectly lined up and seen as one, the ship can safely proceed up the narrow channel. If the pilot sees two or three lights, he knows he’s off course and in danger. Mumford goes on to say that God has also provided three beacons to guide us. The same rules of navigation apply in life – the three lights must be lined up before it is safe for us to proceed. 1. The Word of God 2. The Holy Spirit 3. The circumstances of our life.
If you are going to live life in the Spirit, you have to understand the map. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” What’s the map? The Bible is our map, a guide on the journey of life. The problem is that we too often have treated the Bible as knowledge to be gained and mastered, and most Christians have failed even to do that as Biblical illiteracy rates have skyrocketed in the church. The Bible is not an end in and of itself but rather is a map of the journey of following God. When we fail to see the Bible as this mysterious treasure map, including this incredible journey of the Spirit then we live below the inheritance that God created us to receive and live out. Instead, we need to see the Bible for what it is, a love letter from God written personally to you of God’s wishes, hopes and dreams for the life He created you to live and how to embrace it. So when we come to the Bible, our principle concern should be, “What is God calling me to do? And how can I apply it to my life?” So the Bible acts as a map for our lives.
Second, in sailing and in living with the Holy Spirit, we need to seek the direction of the wind. Sailors are constantly looking for signs of the wind in flags and even the way dust is blowing on the deck of the boat, so they’ll intentionally leave some dust on the boat so they can see how it blows and what direction. They notice how the ripples of water are moving or the direction the clouds are floating. They look at other sailboats in the area. One of the most important things they do is they close their eyes and feel the wind in their face or hear it in their ears until they can discern the direction of the wind. If you want to really do God’s will, you have to seek the direction of the wind. You have to go where the wind is, know how to use it and be in tune with it. You have to train yourself to listen for the Holy Spirit, otherwise you can’t discern and sort out the voices.
How do you listen for the Spirit? It starts with quiet time or devotion time in the morning. In those times you have to do more than just read the Bible and pray. The most important thing you can do is listen to what God is saying. The promise of God in Jeremiah 29:12 is, “Call to me and I will answer you and I will tell you great and hidden things which you have not known.” Through the Holy Spirit, God will tell you things that you cannot learn by yourself. Jesus said, “When the Holy Spirit comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will speak on his own but only what He hears (He’s taking directives from the Father) and He will tell you what is yet to come.” The Holy Spirit will give God’s specific directive for you in your life. If you don’t hear the voice of God or see the signs of the Spirit, then you cannot live the life God intended you to live.
How does God speak to us? Throughout the Bible, it becomes clear that God speaks in a variety of ways to His children. First is through the auditory word. In the Old Testament, we see God speaking directly to people like Abraham and even Moses. Those perhaps are the most rare of occurrences today. I have never heard God speak audibly and don’t know anyone who has. Second is in dreams which is one of the more common ways God speaks in the Bible. There are 21 dreams recorded in the Scriptures and several more referred to. Dreams were considered by the ancient Hebrews to be the language of God. God still speaks in dreams today but we often do not listen to them as messages from God. Third is through visions. We see that God can often give a vision of how he wants things to be. An example of this is God’s vision to Peter in Acts 10 which was God’s call for Peter to share the Good News not just with Jews but to Gentiles as well. Fourth is through other people. In the Old Testament, God often speaks to his people through prophets. As the age of the prophets has passed, God can still speak through the people around us, sometimes without them even knowing it. God does speak audibly through teachers, pastors, friends, family members - even songs, events, and people we don't especially like. Fifth is through God’s Word. We call this the Living Word. God speaks to us through his Word. In the Word, we find his thoughts and ideas, and as we study it and meditate on it. As we read, God can and does speak directly to us. The Holy Spirit also helps us remember the word, certain scriptures, and apply it when we need it. Sixth is through thoughts and impressions. Hearing the voice of God is as natural as an idea that comes into your mind. In fact, that's often exactly how He speaks. A thought or idea occurs to you and it leads you to some kind of action that either answers a prayer or helps someone else who's in trouble.
How do you know when the Holy Spirit speaks to you? These seven ways to test an impression from God, they work. Let’s read them together. List on the PPT slides One, does it agree with the Bible? Two, does it make me more like Christ? Three, does my church family confirm it? Four, is it consistent with my spiritual gifts? Five, does it concern my responsibility? Six, is it convicting not condemning? Seven, do I sense God’s peace about it? If you use these filters you will know whether you’re hearing from God or not.
Third, you have to be willing to yield to the direction of the wind. God puts his hand on the tiller, that’s what steers the boat. We have to yield and trust God to allow him not only to choose the direction of the wind but also the direction of our lives. You have to choose to surrender your will to God. God will never overrun or override your will. You can’t just choose the direction your life is going to go, you have to wait and see the direction the wind is blowing and go according to it. Most sailboats tack which means they go a very crooked path, they go to this side of the wind and then that side of the wind as you’re going. But it’s what is necessary to use the wind to go forward. The Holy Spirit is often the same. It may take you places you didn’t expect to go but then you find out that is right place to go. We’ve all had that experience. But we’ve also had that other experience where the Holy Spirit tells us where we are to go and we decide we’re going to go our own direction.
What we need to understand is that life in the Spirit is proactive. Faith is never passive. When you’re sailing, you’re always working, doing whatever you can to harness the wind to move the boat forward. And you often have to anticipate things before they happen. Sailing is proactive. Life in the Spirit is proactive. It begins right here. You have to be proactive in asking God to fill you with the Holy Spirit in your life. And it’s not a one time deal. It’s an every day in every moment asking, “Tell me God, what do you want me to do for you.”
When Hudson Taylor went to China, he made the voyage on a sailing vessel. As it neared the channel between the southern Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra, the missionary heard an urgent knock on his stateroom door. He opened it, and there stood the captain of the ship. "Mr. Taylor," he said, "we have no wind. We are drifting toward an island where the people are heathen, and I fear they are cannibals." "What can I do?" asked Taylor. "I understand that you believe in God. I want you to pray for wind." "All right, Captain, I will, but you must set the sail." "Why that’s ridiculous! There’s not even the slightest breeze. Besides, the sailors will think I’m crazy." But finally, because of Taylor’s insistence, he agreed. Forty- five minutes later he returned and found the missionary still on his knees. "You can stop praying now," said the captain. "We’ve got more wind than we know what to do with!"
Lastly, you have to do it when you hear God speak. In the Book of Acts, what we find is that Paul and the apostles are always guided by the Holy Spirit and do what the Spirit prompts. When the Spirit says to go one direction, they go. When the Spirit says to go another, they go. “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.” Acts 16:5-7 When the Spirit leads, you have to go not tomorrow or next week or even next month. You have to go now today! One of the most important words for the New Testament is, “Today.” “I will tell you today is the day of God’s favor.” “Today is day of salvation.”
There are three great inhibitors of the Spirit’s work in your life. First is procrastination. Too often we hear the Spirit speak and we say, I’m going to do it after awhile or as my son says every time I ask him to do something, “Just a minute.” The problem is we never get around to doing it. Remember when Jesus said to a man, “Follow me” and his response was, “I will follow you but let me go and bury my dad.” That was a great excuse. Another said to him, “I’ll follow you but let me go and say goodbye to my family.” A good excuse but it’s delay and procrastination. The most important word in the Bible is today. We need to gain the urgency of ‘now.’
The second great inhibitor of the Spirit’s work in your life is fear. We’re often afraid of what God will ask us, what will happen to us if we take that great risk and fail. Procrastination and fear are the two great inhibitors of Spirit. Third is worthiness. Too often we don’t feel that we’re worthy to serve God or to take a lead or a great risk for God’s work and God’s kingdom. But what we need to understand is that God has already forgiven you, you just need to forgive yourself. It’s not our worthiness but our willingness to act when God speaks, to live the unexpected adventure of serving God and following wherever His spirit leads. There is no better time than today to yield to the wind.
