“Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.” (John 6:21)
It was supposed to be a fun-filled few hours on a friend’s boat fishing off the coast of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico as a brief respite from preaching throughout the week. It turned into something neither I nor my friend anticipated! A storm came up, the waves became more and more turbulent, and controlling the boat became more and more difficult. We limped back into port, as the Coast Guard cutter was dispatched and heading out to look for us. And I still had to preach that night! I can tell you that night of preaching was the rockiest sermon I have ever preached!
It has always been one of those reassuring songs that can lift up the most fainthearted and encourage the person struggling with some circumstance or situation that seems almost unbearable. Perhaps the biggest reason for the continuing love for this hymn is found in the stirring words of verse one in particular:
“Jesus, Savior, pilot me over life’s tempestuous sea, Unknown waves before me roll, hiding rock and treacherous shoal. Chart and compass come from Thee – Jesus, Savior, pilot me.”
Our Lord never promised as the Pilot of our lives that they would be free from every storm that might rise up along life’s journey, but we can find great confidence in the truth that He will always be right there with us through them all! Remembering that Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man comes to the Father except by Me” … may each of us choose to put our faith and trust in the only One who can successfully help us navigate life’s troubling seas and safely reach the home port the Bible identifies as Heaven!
“You will show me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)
Bill Fairchild, Jr.
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