“She stood in the storm & when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.” -Elizabeth Edwards
Life isn’t easy sailing. There will be times when we shall be sailing upon life’s rocky shores, and the choice is then ours as to whether or not we will adjust the sails. We will not be lost at sea or fighting stormy seas forever. Our faith is being re-adjusted in these times as we learn to navigate the sea and trust that Our Creator, the painter of beautiful sunsets, is in full control of the storm.
Here’s a poem of a girl learning to adjust her sails at sea. I hope you and I can apply this metaphor to our own lives.
Staring out onto life’s shores
Violent winds brush my face
The morning mist blurs my vision
And, the rocking of the waves
Makes my stomach quite queasy
The night before
Like a blanket covering
A sleepy child
After a joyful day’s end
Stillness, instead
Had spread across the sea
Now,
Uncertainty drifts
In and out of the
Collapsing fog
While inevitable fears
Arise to the surface
A change in the weather
Has forced my
Calloused hands
To climb to the upper deck
And, adjust the sails
Praying that it will be enough
To survive, yet
Another storm
Closing my eyes
I stare not out into the sea
But, I search instead
Deep within
For the quiet voice
That silences all fears
A memory resurfaces
Just then
Pastels flooding the evening sky
After a wretched night at sea
Alas, Adjusting the sails
I am reminded
A colourful masterpiece
Will emerge from the dark sea
JM Books Co. 