Will, a friend from high school, had recently inherited his grandfather’s 25- foot sailboat. My best friend, Isabel, and I had enjoyed fun times with Will exploring the Florida Intercoastal waterway. One balmy day as we breezed past pelicans and dolphins, we made a plan to sail Will’s boat to Grand Bahama Island.
It took us four days to sail south to West Palm Beach. We had invited Jerry, my new boyfriend, to meet us in West Palm to make the ocean crossing with us. When Jerry arrived, he conferred with Will about the course we had charted for the crossing. Jerry was shocked and appalled when he discovered that Will had plotted a straight course from shore to shore. An experienced seaman, Jerry quickly informed Will that he had failed to factor in the effect of the gulf stream current on our course. If he proceeded with the charted course, we would miss the Bahamas by many miles and be lost at sea without land in sight.
Recognizing the voice of experience and wisdom, Will took his advice. Jerry plotted a new course for us, factoring in these other influences. It took us nineteen hours to make the crossing. It was a scary and eerie feeling when at the time we had expected to arrive at our island destination, we were instead surrounded by nothing but empty ocean from horizon to horizon. Jerry realized the current was stronger than he had projected and quickly made a course correction. Before long, we saw a very welcome sight, as the shore of Grand Bahama Island emerged in the distance.
Reflecting on this experience, I realized as we navigate through the challenging passages of life, we often need a course correction. Even a couple of degrees of change to our position can have us completely missing our intended destination or goal. The definition of sin in the Greek is to “miss the mark” or “miss the target”. We have many influences in our culture today that can cause us to deviate from our intended course. Some of these we knowingly embrace while some may be exerting an unconscious influence on our behavior.
Returning to the boating analogy, recent scientific studies suggest that the fluid dynamics of swimming jellyfish can create ocean stirring as strong as the wind and tides. Not many of us would even consider this influence when charting a course of navigation. Similarly, there are influences of which we are unaware that are shaping our thoughts and behavior. We need to make sure we are staying on course, headed in the right direction, as we “run the race with perseverance the course marked out for us” and “pursue as our goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus”.
Correction may be a word we instinctively want to avoid. We may associate it with words like punishment, pain, or rejection. Yet, what a loving act this is! To embrace correction is to embrace fullness of life. God states in 2 Timothy that all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for correcting. As we spend time with our Lord and in His Word, we are set free from conforming to this world’s pattern of thinking. The Holy Spirit transforms us by the renewing of our minds. He corrects our course, bringing it in line with His marvelous plans for us.
