Ello, friends. I've had a lot going on lately. There's a lot for me to catch up on here. A lot of stuff to post. I meant to post last week, but didn't make the time for it. One thing I've learned about this little space on the interwebs is that I must make time for it if it's going to be any good. That said, I've got some stuff up my sleeve for this week. Get ready! And, as to bridge the gap, I want to share with you this prose which I read in a book last year.
Have you ever stood on a point where you could see a number of sailing ships heading in to port? Sometimes standing on a dock at a marina you will get this same impression. All the boats coming in have a number of things in common-- a compass to steer by, the port in view, and general rules of navigation that are the same for all the pilots.
They also differ. No two of them would meet the same proportion of wind and weather at the same moment. Others would have favorable wind one minute and, just as they think they are almost home, the wind will shift. Some are really threatened by wind and wave, and just as they think they are about to go on the rocks, they escape and get home safely. Some meet their greatest difficulties at first. They put out in a storm and are often beaten back. Finally, things calm down, and they go and come without further mishap. They return to port with a rich cargo. Some are hounded by enemy ships and must fight their way through. Still others have a routine voyage with nothing unexpected occurring.
Our lives as believers are just like that. Forgive my simile here. It’s just that I have had a long time to think about such things. All true believers walk by the same rule and pay attention to the same things. The Word of God is their compass. The Lord Jesus is both their polar star and their sun of righteousness. Their hearts and faces are set heavenward. They are one in Body. One Holy Spirit lives in them. Yet their experiences, based on these same principles, are far from identical.
The Lord knows the situation, the temperament, and the talents of each one, as well as the particular services or trials He has appointed for him. Some pass through life more smoothly than others, but everyone is tried at times. But the One “who walketh upon the wings of the wind” (Ps. 104:3) and measures “the waters in the hollow of his hand” (Isa. 40:12) will not allow anyone in His charge to perish in the storms, although some might at one time or another be ready to give up hope.
We must not make the experiences of others a rule binding us, nor make our experiences a rule for others. My own history has been extraordinary. I do not think I have met a single person who has a testimony like mine. Very few have been retrieved from as wicked a state as I have lived in. Those that have been come through deep conviction, and the Lord has given them peace and a future more zealous, bright, and inspiring than is commonly the case.
-John Newton
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