Over Christmas Break, my husband and I spent a few days in Puerto Vallarta. Since childhood, I have been drawn to water. No matter what the temperature, I am always one of the first ones in the lake in the spring, and one of the last ones out in the fall. Therefore, the ocean was one of my favorite places to be in or near during our trip.
By now, I probably have hours of wave footage on my phone. I love to hear the crash of the waves in the surf, and in PV, the tide is especially rambunctious, both in the morning and evening. Boats and catamarans keep their distance from shore. Too close, and these vessels will meet a destructive end. The waves will crush the ship, snapping boards like toothpicks.
I was thinking of this as I read the phrase, “crossing the bar,” during my devotions. This phrase indicates what happens when we act in faith. When a ship crosses the bar, one of two things can happen: the ship will sail, or it will shipwreck. In other words, crossing the bar is leaving what is known and safe to venture into the unknown.
Faith means “crossing the bar.” We don’t know what is on the other side, and the only control we have is whether we do or don’t follow a course of action. As Oswald Chambers writes: “The orders are sealed and become clear only when we obey,” never as we pro/con the idea. If we insist on an explanation, we have already decided not to obey, largely because we are still insisting on control in a situation that only requires obedience.
The other facet to faith is that we are asked, never told, which leaves obedience as the only option. Faith and human control cannot co-exist. Faith is a commitment to the the One who knows us best, and if we have spent time in cultivating a relationship with Him, we also know His true character, and most importantly, that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8: 28). The second half of that verse is “who have been called according to his purpose.” The call to cross the bar is from the companionship, or relationship, with God Himself for His own purposes. The test of faith is to believe - that He is true, and that what He is asking is indisputably and impeccably perfect and trustworthy.
Gerhard Tersteegen, a German Reformer and hymn writer, wrote: “I have to take care not to settle on the sandbank of selfishness, but to leave all for the Lord to order it. If then, I shipwreck, it will be in the wide sea of God’s love, the depths of which are as welcome to me as the surest haven. But nature fights against the thought of venturing forth, we know now where, out of self, into unknown regions.”
I love that phrase - “If then, I shipwreck, it will be in the wide sea of God’s love, the depths of which are as welcome to me as the surest haven.”
When I look at “crossing the bar” from that perspective, it seems the only course of action.
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